By Archibong Jeremiah

On February 8, 2019, Mrs. Scholastica Bisong paid Mr. Isiaka Adeleke N1,855,000 for a Toyota Camry, 2009 model. When the car arrived she rejected it because it was a scrap. He went to Gboko in Benue State, refurbished the car, and sold it to Mr. Bassey Nsidieti Bassey, who was the Registrar of Magistrates Court Ikom for N1.4 million at the time.

When the balance of N455,000 was not forthcoming Mrs. Bisong arrested Mr. Isiaka, and he was charged to court. In suit No. IKM/1/2020, brought before His Worship, Solomon Ikongshul on Monday, 28 September 2020. The judgment went in her favor. Mr. Isiaka was instructed to pay the N455,000 and that N200,000 be paid as damages for breaching the contract, while N50,000 was the cost of action.

The Court further directed that the sum amounting to N705,000 should be paid in three installments: N235,000 per month, from October 2020 to December 2020.

After the execution of the judgment was overdue, on Monday, 22 March 2021, Mr. Isiaka (judgment debtor) filed a motion praying for an order for installment payment of the judgment sum of N705,000 only, in equal installments of N15,000 monthly. And an order for a stay of execution in KM/1/2020.

Presided by His Worship, S. O. Oji the court ordered the applicant to comply with the earlier judgment in suit No. IKM/1/2020 and pay the entire sum of N705,000.

The judgment debtor (Mr. Isiaka) received protection from Magistrate Bassey Nsidieti Bassey until an investigation by this reporter in 2021 exposed his nefarious activities. He was transferred on the 26th of February 2022, but he fought the transfer for two months before eventually yielding in May.

After the transfer of Magistrate Bassey whose villainous activities precede him, Mrs. Bisong had to pass through three lawyers and spent N380,000 to recover her money. Eventually, Isiaka paid N510,000 as of November 2023 and pleaded that the senior citizen write off the N195,000 balance left, and she accepted.

Mrs. Bisong’s journey to recover her balance has left a bitter-sweet taste in her but doesn’t kill her trust in the court of law. “I feel bad, the society is corrupt, if Bassey had not left Ikom I would have gotten nothing. I still have faith in the judiciary no matter how bad it is,” she told TheInvestigator.

In May 2023, after Magistrate Bassey left Ikom, Magistrate Egbai Oja Michael resumed as the Administrative Chief Magistrate. Four months into his resumption, an investigation by TheInvestigator showed that Magistrate Egbai flagrantly abused his office.

Magistrate Egbai upon resumption directed the Registrar, Mrs. Anne Asinya to always get his permission before carrying out directives from other Magistrates else, no action should be taken. The Registrar obeyed for fear of intimidation even if that is not part of her responsibility as outlined in Part 3, section 16 (duties of the Registrar) of the Cross River State Magistrates’ Courts Law.

Because the Registrar refused further instructions from Magistrate Egbai to move an industrial sewing machine and a set of executive chairs due for auction to a safe place for him to convey home and work out the paperwork to cover the trail, she was queried by him.

Previously, Magistrate Egbai had directed the Bailiff to take some items to his home, some of the items were due for auction. For one, the case was ongoing but the Administrative Chief Magistrate had decided its fate.

The item for which litigation was ongoing is a brand new Parson generator set in suit no. IKM/RTM68/2020. Others are a family-size foam in suit IKM/MISC26/2023, cooking pots in suit IKM/MISC89/2022, and some doors, windows, blinds, and buckets.

Her response to the query was exclusively obtained by TheInvestigator and contains more damning details of how far he has abused his office.

Commercialized Litigation

The Administrative Chief Magistrate of Ikom Magistrates Court sent four men to prison demanding N100,000 from each to have their bail conditions reviewed.

Ntufam Fabian Mkpa Etor, Fred Etor Mbeku, Roland Asu Mbeku, and Mbeku Etor spent a week at the Ikom Correctional Centre before jointly paying N200,000 to secure their freedom.

Magistrate Egbai used the powers of his office to coerce two staff to implicate the four of them. No investigation was done by the Police, they were never invited, and no statement of theirs was taken, but they were remanded.

It all began when they were served with a motion on notice for committal to prison, in MISC/104/2023, between them and Mr. David Etta Ekuri. The case was slated to come up on the 31st of July 2023, *Freedom Ekpo was present in court and he spoke to TheInvestigator.

Ekpo said, “Unfortunately, when they appeared in court a new charge was proffered against them, they were arraigned without prior information of being charged on a four-count charge, and no charge sheet was given to them.”

Barrister Kelvin Ogar, their lawyer petitioned Magistrate Egbai for misconduct to the State Chief Judge and Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission on the 12th September 2023, he cried for help.

In the petition obtained by TheInvestigator, Barrister Ogar alleged that the Chief Bailiff Mr. Francis Mbuse, and an ad-hoc staff, Friday Godwin were coerced by Magistrate Egbai to lie against his clients else he (Egbai) would ensure the Chief Bailiff who is almost due for retirement is transferred out while the ad-hoc staff won’t be pushed for permanent employment.

In his petition, TheInvestigator confirmed that Ntufam Fabian Mkpa Etor, Fred Etor Mbeku, Roland Asu Mbeku, and Mbeku Etor’s rights to a fair hearing were violated by not allowing due process take place.

Barrister Ogar wrote “I applied to the Magistrate to review their bail terms, but he said he was going to take the ruling in chambers; I met him in chambers and he told me that each defendant has to bring the sum of N100,000 before he would release them. Our clients had to pay N200,000 to the Magistrate for them to have their bail term reviewed.”

He further alleged that “As if that was not enough, I found out that the Chief Magistrate compelled the Chief Bailiff Mr. Francis Mbuse to tear his shirt as evidence of his assault which Mbuse reluctantly did when Magistrate Egbai threatened to cause his transfer out of Ikom before his retirement which act prompted IKM128C/2023.

“He also compelled the ad-hoc staff, Friday Godwin, to give false evidence in the open Court against the defendants, else he will not make an effort to have him employed as he has a hand to aid his employment as a full staff; thankfully Friday had avoided him and has since been scared to mention it for fear of losing his adhoc job, but confided in me to help him out of that situation.” an allegation staff in Ikom confirmed to TheInvestigator.

In another case involving Ogar’s clients in charge No: IK/230/C/2022, the 3rd Defendant, Elijah Effiong was not in court due to ill health, the court refused to listen to the explanation of his lawyer, the Chief Magistrate ordered the surety who was in court to explain the whereabouts of the absent defendant.

The surety did and promised to make efforts to produce the defendant in the next session, Magistrate Egbai being not satisfied ordered that the surety be arrested and remanded at police custody for 14 days unless the sum of N500,000 is paid as forfeiture before he could be released on bail. He was released when Barrister Ogar out of frustration approached the High Court in Etung.

In another incident on the “22nd of August 2023, while in court as a lawyer, my phone mistakenly rang court, the Chief Magistrate ordered that N2,000 should be paid, I did and was not receipted and so many other terrible and nefarious issues,” Ogar said.

Magistrate Transferred After Communities Protest

Magistrate Abam Ibiang Ikpi was transferred from Okundi in Boki to Akpet Central in Biase on the 26th of February, 2022.

One year later, the community raised the alarm about his crooked ways. When they couldn’t hold it anymore, on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Ugbem, Ekpri Iko, and Iwuru Obio Ntan communities peacefully protested and demanded his immediate transfer.

The Chiefs and their subjects displayed placards with different inscriptions such as “Magistrate Abam is the Lawyer, Petitioner, and the Judge in all cases”, “transfer Abam from Biase, enough is enough”, “save us from the claws Magistrate Abam”, “Ekpri Iko, Ugbem, and Iwuru Obio Ntan demands justice, no to I. Abam,” and among others.

The Investigator learned that following the protest, twenty days later Magistrate Abam was shipped out to Obudu to extend coverage to Obanliku. Barrister Okpan Ozinko told this reporter over the phone that “the Chief Judge’s intervention and heard the cry of the people”.

*Joseph Adam, a victim of Magistrate Abam’s scheme told TheInvestigator that for what he knew nothing about just because there was a quest to make money at all cost he was held in custody.

According to him, “I won’t go into details so that he won’t know me and make my life unbearable because he can. There was no investigation, I was just sent to prison and told I needed to pay about N200,000 to be free, and the bail condition was too high. Because of the condition of things and as the breadwinner I had to pay something close to N100,000 before I was released.”

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request was made by TheInvestigator to the Chief Registrar, Cross River State Judicial Headquarters Calabar, dated 31st January 2024 with the reference number TI/JUD/FOI/001/JUDHQ01.

Two months after the 7-day window provided by the FOI Act of 2011 to respond after receiving the request elapsed, no reply has been given by the acting Chief Registrar.

This article was written by Archibong Jeremiah and published by Cross River Watch on April 2, 2024.

Source link : https://crossriverwatch.com/2024/04/investigation-how-magistrates-abuse-their-office-commercialize-litigation-in-cross-river-communities/

Oluwagbeminiyi Patrick Olusegun Odegbami, son of Nigeria’s ex-international is dead.

Odegbami, the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner with the then Green Eagles according to the Eagle Online reports on Tuesday, made the disclosure in a tribute to his son.

The soccer star popularly known in his playing days as: “Mathematical Segun Odegbami,” wrote: “Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami – the simple pilgrim returns home!

“It is completely impossible to think that I am writing about Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami in the past tense.

“One day to Good Friday, his message woke me up whilst I was in Accra, Ghana. He wanted my summary of the synopsis of the documentary project we were working on.

“I told him not to wait for me but to go ahead and apply his abundant creativity to the project. I was not exaggerating. Gbemi was an unknown and unappreciated G. He was a highly gifted, multi-talented young man. His writing skills, poetic literature in musical lyrics, rapping, elocution when he reads, and unique culinary skills, were all in this laid back young man whose life is simple, spartan and secluded, with no intention whatsoever to disturb the equilibrium of the chaotic world around him.

“Four hours after our exchange, I receive the first of endless phone calls that eventful day, last Thursday: Gbemi is not feeling well; Gbemi is being taken to a hospital; the hospital has referred Gbemi to another hospital.

“I direct that he be taken to a specialist hospital. His situation is critical. The hospital works on him for hours. Twelve hours after our first communication, and exactly 5 minutes past midnight, at the birth of Good Friday (a significant day in Christendom), the doctors call me for the umpteenth time that day to break my heart with the news that haunts me till now – Gbemi has passed on!

“Would it have happened had I not travelled? Would I have handled his situation better? It was a shocking, devastating, painful and incomprehensible news. Good people should not die! Why should this young man, at the start of a new exciting chapter of his life, die so suddenly? Except, of course, (and I now believe so) that it is part of a divine plot that his spirit catches up with that of the ‘dead’ on Good Friday, his sins and transgressions wiped away on the cross of Calvary through Grace at Easter. His soul must be resting peacefully now with the Creator of the Universe.

“This ‘sermon’ has become my consolation. This kind, gentle and simple heart, must no longer be tortured by the difficult challenges of his life in his world over which he had little control.

“Gbemi, until his death, was unfamiliar with the world’s complex ways. His easy going life was totally harmless to anyone. His love riveted on his little son, his mother, his sisters, his music, his cooking, his song-writing, his friends and his current work in the radio station – probably in that order.

“He finally found peace, plus the space and opportunity to express his multiple skills without the pressure of any external scrutiny, enjoying his productions in sights, performances and sounds.

“Then death comes like a thief in the night to steal all of that, snatch him away and leave us with a yawning space in the puzzle of life. Personally, this hurts real bad.

“I miss Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami, an absolutely brilliant mind that is encapsulated in the frail body of a simple and gentle pilgrim. He came to the world, played his part quietly amidst unbelievable challenges, and now departs leaving a legacy of love and kindness to all those he encountered on his journey.

“He told me some weeks ago that what he had missed the most in his life were the love, guidance and friendship of a father, but that he was happy to have finally found them in a relationship with me.

“Adieus Son, as you return (on the 4th day) to our Creator this morning!”

Earlier this morning, I watched and listened to Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace, as he spoke on Arise News TV. He discussed the internal and external challenges that Air Peace faces as it launches its inaugural flight from Lagos to London. It is disheartening to see the level of wickedness in the system, particularly among public servants who abuse their power to make things extremely difficult for local businesses instead of encouraging them as job creators and sources of national pride. Unfortunately, some of the issues that are blamed on Air Peace are caused by unscrupulous airport officials and other types of sabotage.

For example, during their inaugural flight from London to Lagos, Air Peace was asked to park almost two kilometres away in a deserted airport area, which would have required transportation of passengers to the terminals.  If you were a passenger who experienced such inconvenience, you would likely hesitate before repurchasing an Air Peace ticket for international travel. The aviation system should be audited thoroughly to ensure everyone is treated justly and held accountable for their unjustifiable and discriminatory actions. I commend Air Peace for their persistence. With the current ticket price, my recent salary increases, and four months of savings, I may afford an economy ticket to London. I long to attend my class reunion at Queen Mary, University of London, where I completed my postgraduate studies

long to attend my class reunion at Queen Mary, University of London, where I completed my postgraduate studies and graduated in 1996. 

Dear CEO Allen Onyema (if I may), I would like to express my gratitude for the services Air Peace provides. Your commitment to offering student rebates is admirable. As educators, we also play a crucial role in shaping our society’s future. It would be greatly appreciated if we could benefit from academic/teacher rebates as well, considering the travels we undertake for research and conferencing purposes.

I also miss having regular access to legal libraries, such as the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in Russell Square, London, which we used then as graduate students of the University of London. As an alumnus, I am still entitled to unrestricted use of this facility, and I believe academicians worldwide enjoy similar privileges. The big deal is affording the prevailing high cost of international flight tickets. The purchasing power of our earned wages comes into play. 

Although he never shies away from controversies, senior lawyer, Life Bencher and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is again in the middle of a controversy following his alleged link to the demolition properties to an Anambra politician and businessman, Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu in Asokoro, Abuja.

Nicholas Ukachukwu, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SNECOU Group Limited accused Wike of ordering the demolition of his investment on 214 hectares of land in the Asokoro district of the city centre.

He disclosed that the demolition was carried out without any court order, despite two pending valid court orders from separate courts restraining the minister and the FCT administration from interfering with the property.

Africa Independent Television (AIT) reported that the property sitting on 214 hectares of land was demolished on Wednesday 27 March, 2024 in the presence of heavily armed security operatives including soldiers, policemen and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

After about six hours, the buildings some of which had got to the window level and the fence had been pulled down and all that was left was a heap of rubble.

Speaking in an interview with the channel, the Anambra-born businessman called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and save the multi-million-naira invested in the property.

He claimed that the property was demolished because it was owned by an Igbo man, and not because the company violated any law, as all legal titles had been sorted and obtained before commencing development of the property.

Claiming that the demolition was done in bad fate, Ukachukwu said: “Wike called for a meeting over the land, we went with our documents after seeing what we had with our lawyer and other company, Sunrise which they gave part of that land. Wike said that there is nothing on this that the court should take its effect.

“After going around the land, in his normal ways of behaviour, Wike started shouting; how will they take all this land and give it to an Igbo man? Then, the next thing we saw was the demolition of the buildings without a court order.”

According to him, all the legal titles of the property had been obtained including two ministerial approvals, and letters from the immediate past FCT Minister, Mohammed Musa Bello.

He said, “We went through all due process including ministerial approval. We have the full final title document, letter of offer and Certificate of Occupancy.

 “As I’m talking to you, we have not received any document revoking the property or even the reason for the demolition. The only thing we saw was the demolition, the title has not been revoked and we have not been served any notice.”

He insisted that the action of the minister ran contrary to two pending court orders restraining any action by the FCT on the land.

He said, “Two separate courts issued a different court order restraining him from tampering or doing anything in that property but all of sudden Wike now moved all the ‘caterpillars’ (bulldozers) in Abuja and went and started pulling those properties that we have invested billions into down.”

He called on President Tinubu to intervene in the matter to protect the rights of genuine investors and businessmen. “I am calling on Mr President, who I know has nothing to do with the tribe to call Wike to order or remove this man before he brings disdain to hisadministration. 

When SaharaReporters contacted the spokesman for the FCTA, Mr Tony Ogunleye, for a reaction on the demolition, he said he had no information about the demolition.

Ogunleye, however, noted that the FCT Administration doesn’t demolish properties based on the tribe, religion or section of the country the owner comes from.

He said: “The truth is that I don’t know the details of this particular case. I don’t have details at all, so I can’t comment from an uninformed position in terms of what happened. But rest assured that I will find out.

“However, definitely there’s no way properties will be demolished because the owner or purported owner is from one section of the country or the other.

“No! The FCT administration doesn’t operate in that manner. Before any property is removed definitely they must have gone through due process. And that property must have violated one Land Use Act or the other. But like I said, I don’t have details of this particular case.”

In a ceremony at the Supreme Court Complex, Three Arms Zone, Abuja on 24th January, 2019, Wike was appointed a Life Bencher by the Body of Benchers.

The prestigious Nigerian Body of Benchers is a professional body concerned with the admission of successful candidates at the Nigerian Law School Bar Final Examination into the Legal Profession.

A coalition of civil society organisations have called for a state of emergency in the Judiciary, alleging that “Nigeria’s judiciary, a once proud institution, has lost direction and is now barely a shadow of itself.”

In a 28 March 2024, letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) which was also copied to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi and  Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun JSC, Deputy National Chairman, National Judicial Council, the group observed with concern that “notwithstanding the damning nature of these characterizations and warnings, the leadership of Nigeria’s Judiciary appears unruffled by them, nor by the Judiciary’s loss of esteem, and barely shows any signs of irritation or indignation.”

Citing cases of nepotism amongst other allegations, the coalition in letter signed by Joseph Otteh of Access to Justice on behalf of — Chairman, Human & Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association, Sonnie Ekwowusi, Esq.; Fight Against Corruption in the Judiciary, Bayo Akinlade; FundELG Africa, Dominic E. Obozuwa; Open Justice Alliance, Prof. Chidi Anslem Odinkalu; Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre- RULAAC, Okechukwu Nwanguma and Sterling Law Centre; Adedeji Ajare pointed out that:

“The latest of these allegations came last month, after it was alleged that Your Lordship influenced the FCT High Court judicial recruitment process by requesting that a slot be reserved for Oyo State in the recruitment, at the expense of States which had no Judges in the FCT High Court, to ensure that   Your Lordship’s daughter-in-law, who is a Magistrate in the FCT Judiciary be selected for appointment as a Judge of the FCT High Court. These allegations are found in a plethora of media publications.  We have no record that Your Lordship denied these claims.”

The entire letter reads:

MOUNTING ALLEGATIONS OF UNETHICAL PRACTICES AGAINST HIS LORDSHIP WORSEN IMAGE OF NIGERIA’S JUDICIARY

As stakeholders in Nigeria’s justice system, the undersigned civil society bodies whose work is underpinned by, and relies on the rule of law and the integrity of Nigeria’s justice system, feel the strong weight of professional and moral duty to make these representations to Your Lordship concerning the state of Nigeria’s Judiciary under your leadership. Our aim is to call attention to the harm which continuing missteps, misuse of authority and a general failure to undertake effective reform, is doing to the Judiciary that has, over the years, borne the trauma of massive decline and destabilization, and to press Your Lordship to address these issues.

The Judiciary’s decline, to be fair, preceded Your Lordship’s appointment as Chief Justice of Nigeria (“CJN”) in 2022, but overlaps Your Lordship’s many years of judicial service. This decline is highlighted by a number of surveys, such as those by the ICPC (Nigeria Corruption Index: Report of A Pilot Survey) and the UNODC/NBS (Corruption in Nigeria Bribery: public experience and response (2017).

Your Lordship came into office at troubling moments of our Judiciary’s history. Recall that, in 2022, shortly before Your Lordships appointment, you led 13 other Justices of the Supreme Court in taking the unprecedented step of petitioning then CJN, Hon. Justice Tanko Muhammad CFR GCON, lamenting his manner of leadership, unresponsiveness, nepotism and maladministration in overseeing the business and welfare of the Supreme Court and  its Justices. Not long  after, Hon. Justice  T. Muhammad announced an early retirement from office. May we, in this regard, further note that Hon. Justice Tanko Muhammad’s predecessor also left office in even more tragic circumstances. These two cases were firsts of their kind, unprecedented in our judicial history.

May we note, however, that prior to these internal fissures in the Judiciary, there had been external incidents – also without precedent – whose impact on the Judiciary had been hugely staggering. Your Lordship will recall that in October 2016, Nigerian security operatives invaded houses and courts of judicial officers – including those of Supreme Court Justices – following allegations of corruption, and which subsequently led to indictments against a number of judges, alongside a Supreme Court Justice, although these indictments were quashed subsequently for procedural infractions. Many observers see these incidents as highly damaging of the Judiciary’s dignity, respect and public trust.

Following Your Lordship’s appointment as CJN, expectations were high that, with benefit of a long and instructive range of hindsight, Your Lordship would be acutely conscious of the extreme urgency of reforming the judiciary and its administration, arresting its downward spiral in public trust, and reinforcing its capacity to promote and protect the rule of law. May we say, very respectfully, that,  as of now, the Judiciary remains unreconstructed and its public perception has not improved since then. On the contrary, we are very concerned that it has steadily grown worse since Your Lordship assumed its leadership. Furthermore, Your Lordship’s personal actions – quite apart from the dysfunctionalities of the justice system – are harming the already fragile and enfeebled Judiciary, and whatever is left of its credibility.

We are not unconscious of the weight of this judgment, but have not reached it hastily or flippantly, believing they are justified by substantial evidence. Under Your Lordship’s watch, the Judiciary has suffered further reputational harm, mostly accounted for by:

A.  Reabsorption of dismissed/compulsorily retired Judges

The National Judicial Council (“NJC”) chaired by Your Lordship has reinstated two Judges removed by the NJC for serious misconduct without, at the very least, exhausting available legal avenues to keep these Judges out of the Judiciary, in order to safeguard against the huge embarrassment their reabsorption would cause to the perception of the Judiciary. Justice Gladys Olotu was compulsorily retired in 2014 for grievous misconduct by former President Buhari, following a recommendation by the NJC. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia was dismissed in 2018, after the NJC found that she had received monies from several persons and corporations using corporate accounts. It is conceded that these Judges won lawsuits for their reinstatement, but the judgments they got faulted the procedure of their removal and not the substantive merits of the case brought against them.

Given the overarching importance of upholding public trust in the judicial process, it is hugely disappointing that the NJC chose to not do more to vindicate and reinforce its original determinations against the two Judges. The Council could, for instance, have appealed the judgments and waited for a final opinion on the legality of its decision; or, given that no statute of limitation prevented it from re- exercising its disciplinary procedures against them, re-commenced proceedings to hold them ultimately accountable, ensuring they are not anymore in a position to harm the fragile image of the Judiciary. The NJC’s “surrender” to these Judges, counting the options available to it, is, in our respectful view, a profound demonstration of its lack of commitment to the institutional standing and reputation of the Judiciary and the Council’s ineffectiveness as an oversight body.

B. Turning a Blind Eye to Issues of Judicial Integrity

It may additionally be observed that Your Lordship is turning a blind eye to the importance of maintaining, as much as possible, integrity in the Judiciary, and that most of Your Lordship’s rhetoric in this regard may possibly be passed-off as lip service. Before the recent appointments of Justices into the Supreme Court, one of the signatories to this letter, Access to Justice, twice made representations to Your Lordship as Chairman of the NJC to investigate allegations made against one of the nominated Justices -Hon. Justice Chidiebere Uwa – following unresolved accusations of corruption and violations of the Judicial Code of Conduct against her as a Judge of Abia State. None of the two letters, dated 1/08/2022 and 30/11/ 2023 received as much as an acknowledgment. The same organization requested that the NJC investigate allegations made by Hon. Justice Dattijo Muhammed concerning deliberate delays in filling Supreme Court vacancies (details in para. D, below) in a letter dated 30th Nov. 2023. Up till this time, the NJC has refused to acknowledge or act on the letter.

C. Allegations of Nepotism and Illicit Influence Peddling

A number of appointments in the Judiciary since Your Lordship assumed office have triggered charges of nepotism and the illicit use of influence against Your Lordship. It is claimed that you improperly used your influence as CJN to promote the appointment of your family members into judicial and administrative positions in the Judiciary.

Those appointments include those of your son, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola Jr, (who was recommended by the NJC on July 14th  2023) for appointment as Judge of the Federal High Court; Your nephew (Hon. Justice Lateef Ganiyu) as Justice of the Court of Appeal and your junior brother, Mr. Adebayo Ariwoola as Auditor of the NJC in Dec. 2023.

The latest of these allegations came last month, after it was alleged that Your Lordship influenced the FCT High Court judicial recruitment process by requesting that a slot be reserved for Oyo State in the recruitment, at the expense of States which had no Judges in the FCT High Court, to ensure that   Your Lordship’s daughter-in-law, who is a Magistrate in the FCT Judiciary be selected for appointment as a Judge of the FCT High Court. These allegations are found in a plethora of media publications.  We have no record that Your Lordship denied these claims.

D. Manipulating Timing of Appointments of Supreme Court Justices

Speaking at his valedictory session at the Supreme Court in November 2023, Hon. Justice Dattijo Muhammed (rtd), accused Your Lordship of deliberately refusing to make additional appointments of Supreme Court Justices (even when the court was depleted to 11 Justices), implying, per force, that while the Supreme Court was suffocating under the pressure of acutely-reduced bench numbers, Your Lordship was, for whatever motive, preserving the stifling status-quo in order to achieve some ulterior objective. At least, this is the sense in which we understand rtd. Justice Muhammed’s allegations.  Your Lordship is not known to have denied the allegations too, even when there was ample opportunity to do so, lending credence to the view that the accusations are credible. Shortly after the Supreme Court decided the presidential election petition cases, we would note the coincidence that there was renewed traction in appointing new Justices to fill the vacancies on the Court’s bench.

E.  Worsening Strain on Judiciary’s Public Perception

The net effect of the forgoing is that Nigeria’s Judiciary has further lost the respect of Nigerians and the international community, and is, in fact, endangering its own legitimacy. The loss of dignity is increasingly observed in a variety of media platforms. Hon. Justice Dattijo Mohammed himself had, at his valedictory, warned that “public perception of the judiciary have over the years become witheringly scornful and monstrously critical”. Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political group recently delivered a stinging distress call, saying that it was worried  “at the dwindling image and increasing loss of confidence in the judiciary by the Nigerian people.” Former Minister of Education/World Bank Africa Region Vice President Oby Ezekwesili, recently called out Nigeria’s Judiciary as being “rotten”. Olumide Akpata, former President of the NBA, said not long ago that: “There is near- universal agreement that public confidence in the Judiciary … is at an all-time low”. Similar tropes are reverberating across broad spectrums of public opinion.

Unfortunately, notwithstanding the damning nature of these characterizations and warnings, the leadership of Nigeria’s Judiciary appears unruffled by them, nor by the Judiciary’s loss of esteem, and barely shows any signs of irritation or indignation. But the reputational harm is affecting and stigmatizing many conscientious Judges/Justices who serve honourably, and do not deserve the unfair tarring of the entire institution by the same brush, irrespective  of  the disposition of the Judiciary’s leadership to the embarrassment. No respectable Judiciary, we are persuaded, should afford to remain indifferent to the forms of public malignment and ridicule against it as we have witnessed in Nigeria.

F.  Office of Chief Justice of Nigeria, a Public Trust, not to Promote Personal Interest

At this time, Nigeria’s judiciary – as many believe – is bumping along the bottom, but Your Lordship’s actions have arguably exacerbated that already bad situation, plunging the Judiciary’s image further down the barrel. The office of Chief Justice of Nigeria is a public trust, and the holder of that office, we respectfully submit, is under duty to exercise that trust in the public interest and not in privileging the interest of family members over the interests of the larger institution. Moreover, as head of the Judiciary, Your Lordship’s actions carry very significant, far-reaching implications; they represent a frame of reference against which other actors might justify their own parochialisms, and, therefore, are bad precedents. Furthermore, where judicial officers or other heads of courts contravene judicial standards of conduct, or engage in unethical practices – such as nepotism – Your Lordship could not properly be in a position to sit over them in judgment.

G. Conclusion

Your Lordship, we are concerned that Nigeria’s judiciary, a once proud institution, has lost direction and is now barely a shadow of itself. Whatever remains of its credibility now lies hanging by a thread. Therefore, there is a certain “urgency of now” to pull the Judiciary from the brink of complete perdition, by avoiding actions that elevate that risk, as well as a dire need to overhaul the entire judicial system. Declaring a state of emergency in the Judiciary would be a good start. Ensuring that judicial selection decisions are transparently and verifiably merit-based, is a pressing need at this time.

Your Lordship, it has been said that “no system of justice can rise above the ethics of those who administer it”; Nigeria’s judiciary will not likely rise from the abyss unless its leadership exercises better and more selfless stewardship of their high responsibilities. This is what Nigerians want to see now.

In closing, we find it especially fitting to borrow our final words from a letter which Your Lordship co-authored (with 13 other Justices of the Supreme Court), to your predecessor, Justice Tanko Muhammad CFR, GCON (rtd) in June 2022. It is thus:

“Your Lordship, this is a wakeup call. Your Lordship must take full responsibility as our leader…. We will not wait for the total collapse of the institution. We must not abandon our responsibility … in the face of these sad developments that threaten our survival as an institution. We have done our utmost best to send a wake up call to Your Lordship. A stich in time saves nine.”

We thank Your Lordship for his kind consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Access to Justice                                                 Joseph Otteh

On behalf of:

Chairman, Human & Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association       Sonnie Ekwowusi, Esq.

Fight Against Corruption in the Judiciary Bayo Akinlade

  FundELG Africa. Dominic E. Obozuwa

Open Justice Alliance Prof. Chidi Anslem Odinkalu

Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre- RULAAC Okechukwu Nwanguma

Sterling Law Centre Adedeji Ajare

Cc.

1.  The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja

2.  Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun JSC, Deputy National Chairman, National Judicial Council

1 [See for example, Gazette newspaper and Arise TV reports (https://gazettengr.com/cjn-ariwoola-appoints-younger-brother- adebayo-ariwoola-as-new-auditor-for-national-judicial-council/; alongside https://gazettengr.com/cjn-ariwoola-strikes-againP-age | 4 daughter-victoria-oluwakemi-named-fct-high-court-judge-nominee/ https://www.arise.tv/huriwa-seeks-nullification-of-nigerias-chief-justices-son-as-judge/].

• There is hope, even though we’re not where we want to be! — Joy Ezeilo, SAN

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah has called on the Federal Government to develop a clear communications strategy that will serve to inspire and create timelines of expectations of results from policies.

In his Easter message where he addressed the country’s troubles, Bishop Kukah said Nigeria is reaping what it sowed yesterday adding that the military’s extensive involvement in civilian affairs as disturbing.

The eloquent and audacious Bishop urged the Federal Government to devise a robust strategy to reverse the country’s course and lead it towards national healing.

“Our leaders chose the feast rather than the fast. We are today reaping what we sowed yesterday. For over 60 years, our leaders have looked like men in a drunken stupor, staggering, stumbling, and fumbling,” Kukah expressed.

He condemned pervasive corruption and its debilitating effects on the nation, describing Nigeria as being in a state of hangover that renders it comatose.

However, the bishop remained optimistic about Nigeria’s potential for greatness, urging citizens to journey together towards a new dawn of resurrection.

“The corruption of the years of a life of immoral and sordid debauchery has spread like cancer, destroying all our vital organs. The result is a state of hangover that has left our nation comatose.

“Notwithstanding, Easter is a time to further reflect on the road not taken. It is a time to see if this Golgotha of pain can lead us to the new dawn of the resurrection. Nigeria can and Nigeria will be great again. Let us ride this tide together in hope,” he stated.

Proposing urgent measures to alleviate economic hardship and hunger, Kukah stated the need for inclusive policies to eradicate nepotism and foster patriotism.

He called for transparent recruitment methods and a clear communications strategy to inspire accountability and achieve national goals.

“The government must design a more comprehensive and wide-ranging method of recruitment that is transparent as a means of generating patriotism and reversing the ugly face of feudalism and prebendalism

“There is a need for a clear communications strategy that will serve to inspire and create timelines of expectations of results from policies.

“There is a need for clarity over questions of who, what, when, and how national set goals are to be attained and who can be held accountable,” he said.

Asserting that prevalent security situation where the military has become deeply involved in civilian affairs is concerning, Kukah said it is important for the military to maintain its professionalism and integrity while addressing the root causes of insecurity.

On her part, Prof. Joy Ezeilo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking, stated that Nigeria might not be where it is expected to be but that there is hope.

Ezeilo on her X handle (Former Twitter) had this to say:

“In the context of Nigeria’s current situation, Easter serves as a potent reminder that we can transition from death to life, slavery to freedom, ethnic and religious divides to unity to salvage Nigeria, and suffering to abundance. It symbolises a new beginning and a beacon of hope in these challenging times. I fervently hope and pray that all Nigerians can share this transformational experience as we strive to overcome the dire economic situations and insecurity that seem to be engulfing us.

“May all old things pass away and everything becomes new! I claim this for our dear country, Nigeria.

“New things are already showing. On Good Friday, my salary alert showed a top-up of over 100k, but I need to figure out the percentage. Waiting for FGN and ASUU to confirm it. There is hope, even though we’re not where we want to be!”