Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Mahmud Mohammed has said that the decision of the country’s National Judicial Council to suspend seven judges last week was to signal the judiciary’s resolve to be independent.
The judges were suspended over corruption allegations after the country’s security agency announced it has seized $800,000 cash from senior judges during raids.
Mr. Mohammed on Monday said the country’s judiciary will remain focused and independent in the discharge of its duties. He assured that the courts in Nigeria are empowered to settle cases without bias as prescribed in the country’s Constitution.
The Nigerian Chief Justice made these comments at the swearing-in of new justices of the Supreme Court in Abuja.
He said “Certainly, the decision of the National Judicial Council at its last meeting reflects our desire to preserve this independence. “Hence, we proclaimed to the world that any judicial officer that is standing trial will cease to perform judicial functions. The Council took this stand following communications it received from the Attorney General of the Federation that he was embarking on the prosecution of the affected judicial officers for the offences disclosed against them,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to deal with widespread corruption after taking office last year.
A high number of former senior officials are facing prosecution in the courts but reported corruption in the Nigerian legal system makes it extremely difficult to convict individuals accused of corruption.
Source: Africafeeds.com
