Judicial bribery: Forward petition of officers’ misconduct ―NJC

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has again called on members
of the public to forward written petitions against any Judicial
Officer found soliciting or receiving bribes or otherwise engaging
in conducts un-becoming of a Judicial Officer to the Council for
appropriate action.

The NJC made the call in a statement released by its Director of
Information, Soji Oye, while reacting to the Report of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in conjunction with the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled, “Corruption in Nigeria;
Bribery: public experience and response – 2017”, where-in, it was
alleged that the Judiciary is the second highest receiver of bribes
in the Country.

The NJC spokesman said, “The Judiciary finds the conclusion of
the organizations not only subjective but speculative.”

“There is no denial of the fact that there are few bad eggs in
the Judiciary, like in every other arm of Government; at the same
time, there are many honest and hardworking Judicial Officers and
Magistrates making the Judiciary and the country proud.”

He said, the question that should agitate the minds of the
people is the criteria used by the UNODC and the NBS to measure the
level of bribe taken in the Judiciary to grade it as the second
largest receiver of bribe.

“For instance, what is the percentage of Judges caught receiving
bribe out of a total number of 159 Judges in both the Federal and
State Judiciaries?”

“What is the percentage of Magistrates caught taking bribe from
an estimated total number of 4,000 in the country? How many Judges
or Magistrates have been arrested and/or prosecuted and convicted
of corruption till date to deduce such conclusions?”

The NJC wonders the criteria used by the organisations to arrive
at the conclusion and noted that the Judiciary is the only arm of
Government that has been investigating its Judicial Officers and
dealt appropriately with those found guilty by dismissal or removal
from office, subject to approval for such recommendation from the
President or the Governor of a State as the case may be, and
publish such in electronic and print media for the consumption of
the public.

The statement noted that members of the general public are also
aware that the NJC has been recommending Judges found guilty of
corrupt practices to the appropriate security agencies for
prosecution.

It added that, “It is unfortunate that the orchestrated
allegation is coming at a time the current Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice
Walter Onnoghen, is making frantic efforts to stamp out corruption,
restructure the Judiciary and also give the Nigerian Legal System a
new lease of life for the Rule of Law to take its firm roots in the
Country.”

The statement called on the general public to disregard the
allegation as it is untrue, baseless, unfounded and a figment of
the Agencies’ imagination.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has again called on members
of the public to forward written petitions against any Judicial
Officer found soliciting or receiving bribes or otherwise engaging
in conducts un-becoming of a Judicial Officer to the Council for
appropriate action.

The NJC made the call in a statement released by its Director of
Information, Soji Oye, while reacting to the Report of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in conjunction with the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled, “Corruption in Nigeria;
Bribery: public experience and response – 2017”, where-in, it was
alleged that the Judiciary is the second highest receiver of bribes
in the Country.

The NJC spokesman said, “The Judiciary finds the conclusion of
the organizations not only subjective but speculative.”

“There is no denial of the fact that there are few bad eggs in
the Judiciary, like in every other arm of Government; at the same
time, there are many honest and hardworking Judicial Officers and
Magistrates making the Judiciary and the country proud.”

He said, the question that should agitate the minds of the
people is the criteria used by the UNODC and the NBS to measure the
level of bribe taken in the Judiciary to grade it as the second
largest receiver of bribe.

“For instance, what is the percentage of Judges caught receiving
bribe out of a total number of 159 Judges in both the Federal and
State Judiciaries?”

“What is the percentage of Magistrates caught taking bribe from
an estimated total number of 4,000 in the country? How many Judges
or Magistrates have been arrested and/or prosecuted and convicted
of corruption till date to deduce such conclusions?”

The NJC wonders the criteria used by the organisations to arrive
at the conclusion and noted that the Judiciary is the only arm of
Government that has been investigating its Judicial Officers and
dealt appropriately with those found guilty by dismissal or removal
from office, subject to approval for such recommendation from the
President or the Governor of a State as the case may be, and
publish such in electronic and print media for the consumption of
the public.

The statement noted that members of the general public are also
aware that the NJC has been recommending Judges found guilty of
corrupt practices to the appropriate security agencies for
prosecution.

It added that, “It is unfortunate that the orchestrated
allegation is coming at a time the current Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice
Walter Onnoghen, is making frantic efforts to stamp out corruption,
restructure the Judiciary and also give the Nigerian Legal System a
new lease of life for the Rule of Law to take its firm roots in the
Country.”

The statement called on the general public to disregard the
allegation as it is untrue, baseless, unfounded and a figment of
the Agencies’ imagination.