How Not to Remove A Chief Judge

A court in Kogi State has emphatically made it known to Governor
Yahaya Bello and the state house of assembly that they could not
jointly or unilaterally remove the chief judge, reports Davidson
Iriekpen

Attempts by Governor, Yahaya Bello and the House of Assembly to
remove the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Justice Nasir Ajanah,
from office met a strong resistance when a high court sitting in
Koton-Karfe ruled that the executive and legislature, jointly or
unilaterally, could not remove him without recourse to the National
Judicial Council (NJC).

The presiding judge, Justice Alaba Omolaye-Ajileye, while
delivering judgment in a suit brought against the assembly, the
governor and three others by Justice Ajanah and the Chief
Registrar, Yahaya Adamu, said to allow only the assembly and the
governor of a state to remove a chief judge of a state or any
judicial officer for that matter, without the input of the NJC, was
tantamount to destroying the very substratum of justice and
introducing a system of servitude, inconsistent with the
constitutional independence of judges.

The judge, who was very livid while reading the judgment,
re-emphasised that it was only the NJC, established under Section
153(i) of the Constitution (as amended), that has the power to
recommend to the governor, the removal of a judicial officer. He
noted that where a chief judge of a state is to be removed, for
whatever reason, it is the NJC, not the state assembly that has the
power to make recommendations to the governor of a state under item
21(d) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.

“It is also the NJC, established under Section 153(i) of the
constitution (as amended), that has the power to recommend to the
Governor, the removal of a judicial officer. Where a Chief Judge of
a state is to be removed, for whatever reason, it is the NJC, not
the state House of Assembly that is empowered to make
recommendations to the governor of a state under item 21(d) of the
Third Schedule to the Constitution.

“To allow only the House of Assembly and the governor of a state
to remove a chief judge of a state or any judicial officer for that
matter, without the input of the NJC, will be monstrous and
outrageous as it is capable of destroying the very substratum of
justice and introducing a system of servitude, utterly inconsistent
with the constitutional independence of judges,” he said.
Justice Omolaye-Ajileye not only found merit in the suit and
allowed the declarations sought, but granted all the reliefs and
declarations sought by the claimants in the suit.

“On the whole, I find merit in this action and it succeeds. All
the declarations sought are allowed.”
The case started when following the industrial action embarked upon
by the judicial workers, the Secretary to the State Government
(SSG), Folashade Ayoade-Arike, who had a pending case before the
Chief Judge, addressed a letter to him on the orders of the state
governor to release the payroll of judiciary staff for pay parade
of civil servants in the state. The chief judge then instructed the
Chief Registrar to reply the letter, as it was unethical for him to
communicate directly with her while the case was pending.

In the reply, the claimants declined to yield to the demand for
staff payroll on the grounds that the request was contrary to the
provisions of the state Public Finance (Judiciary Special
Provisions), Edict No. 6 of 1991 and sections 81(3) and 162 (d) of
the 1999 Constitution. The development led to a communication
between the SSG and the assembly, alleging financial
misappropriation on the leadership of the judiciary.

The assembly subsequently constituted an ad hoc committee to
investigate the Chief Judge and Chief Registrar on the matter.
On April 2, the assembly recommended to the governor and the State
Judicial Council, the removal of the Chief Judge and sanctions for
the Chief Registrar after it adopted the report and recommendations
of the ad hoc committee.

Consequent upon this, the judicial officers approached the court
with suit number: HC/KK/11CV/2018 to challenge the powers of the
governor and the state House of Assembly to remove them from office
over refusal to be investigated by the state assembly.
Other respondents in the suit were the Speaker of the assembly,
Bello Hassan Abdullahi, Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee and the
state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.

In their originating summons, they posed four questions for
determination which revolved round whether the defendants had power
to remove the chief judge as a “judicial officer” within the
meaning of sections 292 and 318 of the 1999 Constitution.
They also sought to know among others, whether the 1st defendants
(Assembly) or its committee was vested with the power to invite the
first claimant (Ajanah) to the floor of the assembly for the
purpose of investigation.

They equally sought declarations that the defendants were not
vested with the power to remove the CJ or invite him to the floor
of the assembly for purpose of investigation; that the constitution
of the ad hoc committee by the assembly on December 11, 2018 was
unconstitutional, ultra vires and therefore, null, void and of no
effect.

They also sought orders of perpetual injunction setting aside
the purported resolution and another restraining the defendants,
their agents, privies or servants from investigating or exercising
any form of disciplinary control or sanctions on the claimants.

It was not only the chief judge who benefited from the judgment
as Justice Omolaye-Ajileye, also declared that the chief registrar
of the state High Court held a statutory position as the accounting
officer of the judiciary and was therefore, not subject to the
control and supervision of either the executive or the
legislature.
The above case is not the first time the court would halt the
arbitrariness of a state governor and the House of Assembly in
removing a chief judge from office.

Since the enthronement of democracy in 1999, the NJC has
consistently been telling state governors and their Houses of
Assembly that they could not appoint or remove a chief judge
without its input. But this constitutional provision has often been
flouted.
The most recent was on May 5, 2009 when the then Governor of Kwara
State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, sacked the state chief judge, Justice
Raliat Elelu-Habeeb, from office for alleged corruption, misconduct
as well as high handedness in handling the crisis in the
judiciary.

Rather than notifying the NJC, Saraki wrote a letter to the
state House of Assembly, complaining about the chief judge and the
need to remove her from office. Upon receiving the governor’s
letter, it took the lawmakers just 45 minutes to deliberate on the
letter and gave a unanimous approval to the governor’s request.
Before anyone could say anything, the chief judge was sacked.

Justice Elelu-Habeeb then went to the federal high court in
Ilorin, which ordered that she should be reinstated. But the state
government appealed judgment and won. Consequently, Justice
Elelu-Habeeb approached the Supreme Court.

In 2012, the seven-man panel of justices of the apex court led
by Justices Walter Onnoghen, Christopher Chukwumah-Eneh, Muhammad
Muntaka-Coomassie, Olufunmilola Adekeye, Mary Peter-Odili and
Olukayode Ariwoola, in a unanimous decision, declared all the
actions taken by the Saraki-led executive arm, acting in consonance
with the state House of Assembly on Justice Elelu-Habeeb’s removal
as a nullity.

They held that both the governor-led executive arm and the state
lawmakers lacked the constitutional powers to remove the chief
judge without an input of the NJC. The court held that the NJC was
by law a necessary party that must be involved in determining the
fate of a judicial officer.

Citing Section 271(1) of the 1999 Constitution, the apex court
said: “It is not difficult to see that for the effective exercise
of the powers of removal of a Chief Judge of a state by the
governor and House of Assembly, the first port of call by the
governor shall be the NJC. Although the governor of a state has
been vested with the power to appoint the chief judge of his own
state, that power is not absolute.”

Justice Mohammed said: “That is to say for the purpose of
emphasis, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999
does not give the Governor of Kwara State, acting in conjunction
with the House of Assembly of Kwara State, absolute power to remove
the Chief Judge of the state from his/her office before the age of
retirement without the recommendation of the NJC.

“The NJC is the body that has been assigned the duty and
responsibility of recommending to the governors of the states of
the federation suitable persons for appointments to the offices of
chief judges of the states and other judicial officers in the
states.

“The same NJC is also empowered under Sub-paragraph (d0 of
paragraph 21 to recommend to the governors of the states the
removal from office of the chief judges of the states and other
judicial officers of the states, and also to exercise disciplinary
control over such chief judges of the states and other judicial
officers of the states. “Therefore, from these very clear
provisions of the constitution, which are very far from being
ambiguous, the governors of the states and the houses of assembly
of the states cannot exercise disciplinary control touching the
removal of chief judges of states or other judicial officers in the
states.”

Perhaps, with the Kogi example, governors would start to learn
to appreciate the very essence of separation of power, which
guarantees the independence of the judiciary and desist from
attempting to exercise absolute power only to be put in their place
by a court of law.

Culled from Thisday

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MNJTF Eliminates 47 Terrorists, Recovers Sophisticated
Weapons

In continuation of the on going Operation YANCIN TAFKI to rout
Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) from the Lake Chad Area,
the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in conjunction with
national forces yesterday, 21 June 2019, inflicted the heaviest
loss in 6 months on ISWAP.

At about 6am yesterday, 21 June 2019, troops embarked on
clearance operation to Doron Naira (an island in Lake Chad), in a
bid to disrupt ISWAP’s activities on the island and adjoining
localities. Troops effectively suppressed ISWAP and successfully
conducted the clearance operation. At the end of the engagement,
the following statistics were recorded;

– 42 terrorists neutralized, several others escaped with gunshot
wounds.

– 2 Gun trucks destroyed .

– 3 Motor cycles destroyed.

– 2 Light machine guns recovered

– 2 AK 47 Riffles recovered.

Unfortunately, the MNJTF lost a soldier while 10 others were
Wounded in Action. The affected soldiers have been evacuated
accordingly.

Earlier in the week, ISWAP also met a similar fate when they
attempted to attack MNJTF troops in Sector 1 Foward Operation Base
(FOB) in Ngouma in Cameroon. In that engagement, ISWAP lost 5
terrorists, while 1 was captured. They also lost 13 AK 47 Riffles
and 2 Hand Grenades.

Similarly, the MNJTF also conducted air interdictions in Arege
and Malkorony. Several terrorists are suspected to have been killed
as the Headquarters and logistics base of a top ISWAP commander,
Abu Talib was targeted in that operation.

Please, disseminate this information to the general public.

Colonel Timothy Antigha

Chief of Military Public Information

MNJTF

N’Djamena – Chad