Supreme Court crisis: NBA demands immediate probe of Ex-CJN, as Ariwoola resumes

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has demanded an immediate probe of the erstwhile Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Muhammad.

This is coming after some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, lawyers, civil rights groups and some branches of the Nigerian Bar Association unanimously raised an alarm that allegations against the former CJN should not be swept under the carpet.

Recall that Muhammad’s resignation was made public on Monday morning. According to reports,  he tendered his resignation on the grounds of ill-health, barely a week after 14 Supreme Court Justices, in a joint petition, levelled grave allegations of maladministration and financial impropriety against the Bauchi State-born jurist.

Following this, President Muhammadu Buhari swore in the next most senior justice, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, as the acting CJN at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja.

Speaking on his resignation, Buhari received the resignation letter of the outgoing CJN with mixed feelings.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented development in Nigeria’s judicial history, the Supreme Court justices had in a leaked letter, accused Muhammad of abandoning his responsibilities and diverting funds meant for the running of the Supreme Court.

 Also, a former Secretary of the NBA, Asaba branch, AF Bridebra, endorsed the demand for an investigation of the Supreme Court under Muhammad.

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 Bridebra, who spoke with Punch Newspaper stated, “If there is any place we need transparency, it is the judiciary. The man (Muhammad) should be probed.

 “The man was rumoured to have been involved in corrupt activities, so he should be probed. Not only him but it should be extended to all Supreme Court judges and NBA.

 “The judiciary, as far as I’m concerned, is dying. Every state judge needs to be investigated; this is the beginning of the End-SARS revolution in the judiciary.”

 The Chairman of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law, Dr Monday Ubani, said, “Resignation does not stop  investigation, if they so desire. One is that there must be the desire to look at the allegations raised by his colleagues, especially on issues of mismanagement of resources.

 “The acting Chief Justice was one of those who supported the petition so he should look into it and have unbiased personnel to unravel it. We shouldn’t sweep it under the carpet but investigate it. Yes, he resigned on health grounds but it doesn’t stop probing into the finances of his administration if there is an extreme need for it.”

On the conferment of a national honour on him, Ubani said this could be withdrawn if he was indicted by a probe.

The judiciary workers said they had been vindicated by the happenings in the judiciary which indicated that it was yet to enjoy autonomy.

The National Treasurer, Judiciary Staff Union Staff of Nigeria, Jimoh Musa, stated, “With the complaint (by the Supreme Court Justices) and response, you will know that there is no autonomy even at the federal level. And now that they have woken up from their slumber to cry out for us to know, I think JUSUN will join hands and make sure the autonomy sees the light of the day.”

Meanwhile, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria also called for the probe of the former CJN. Rasheed Adegoke, SAN, explained that the former CJN should be investigated to set the records straight.

While commending Muhammad for resigning from office, the senior lawyer argued that the judiciary as the hope of the common man should be above reproach.

He stated, “If we want to set things right, there’s nothing that says that he should not be probed. If there had been allegations of misdeeds under his administration, the essence of the probe is to ensure that the records are even clean so that people will know what actually transpired.

 “Were his colleagues who wrote the petition just making unnecessary noise or there was substance in what they were talking about? Only a probe will bring that to the fore.”

He noted that the allegations against him bordered on maladministration and not financial malfeasance. “So, the anti-graft agencies should allow the system to be unless where there are specific allegations of financial crime,” he submitted.

Meanwhile, the NBA Chairman, Port Harcourt branch, Prince Nyekwere,  said the allegations of corruption levelled against the retired CJN remain to be proved.

On his part, the Chairman of the NBA, Okrika branch also in Rivers State, Emmanuel Eremie, said for the CJN to voluntarily step aside meant those allegations were weighty.

“It means the allegations are weighty. But the implication is this: We look up to the Supreme Court as the oracles of the law, and would not want them to wash their dirty linens in public.

“They can constitute an administrative probe panel and do the needful, just to save the image of the legal profession,” Eremie said.

The Chairman, Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, also stated that the former CJN should be probed.

“It is a good thing he honourably resigned and didn’t allow himself to be thrown out like Onnoghen but then, apart from the NJC, the Body of Bencher, the anti-graft agencies should do their separate jobs on him and at the end of the day, he should be given adequate punishment, if found guilty. This is necessary to serve as deterrence for others,” he submitted.

In her reaction, the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Mrs Idayat Hassan, said the centre would go beyond calling for just probes.

She said the situation demanded an in-depth look into the implications on the judiciary and above all, on the democracy in Nigeria.

She further added that while the resignation of the former Chief Justice was honourable, it was worrisome that it was happening close to the 2023 elections.

The Convener, Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that no Nigerian should be above the law and hence, the allegations against the former CJN should not be swept under the carpet.

The Chairman, Transparency International, Nigeria, Musa Rafsanjani, said the development presented an opportunity to remove the secrecy in the judiciary “because there’s too much secrecy in the judiciary spending,” adding that Nigerians needed to know how funds were managed and spent in the judiciary.

He also said reforms were also necessary to tackle the conditions that made judges give contradictory judgments.