DSS RAIDS: Corruption, Not Judiciary Under Attack, Says Presidency

THE PRESIDENCY has reacted to the tension which followed the arrests of some judges of the Federal High Court and justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria stating that the attack was firmly directed against corruption and in no way to the judiciary.

This was contained in a statement released by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity) assuring the public that President Muhammadu Buhari is a democrat and therefore will always operate within the scope of the constitutional provisions in all policies of the government.

“The Presidency assures that the President reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government, and will not do anything to undermine its independence.

“President Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his action, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.

“The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.

“In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected.

“The Presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.

“To suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial manner is to breach the interest of the state”, Garba said.

The Presidential spokesperson also berated the media over its approaches on the incident adding that “reports by a section of the media are giving us cause for concern.

“In undertaking the task of reporting, the media should be careful about the fault lines they open. It is wrong to present this incident as a confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government” he added.

The seven judges arrested and currently in detention at the SSS office are Justice Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court; Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja; Kabir Auta of the Kano High Court; Muazu Pindiga of Gombe High Court, Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, I. A. Umezulike.

However, a large number of Nigerians have commended the operatives on the raid saying that the action is long overdue. Prominent among the hailers is a social activist and lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN). On the other hand, most of the APC’s critics include the actions in lists of anomalies of the present administration.

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Nigeria who heads the judiciary as well as the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, this evening registered his disappointment over the development but didn’t clarify on which side the regrets are anchored. Based on the development, an emergency meeting of the NJC has been summoned on Tuesday to take a consensus decision on the matter.