S/Court Justices Are Not Repository Of Knowledge ― CJN – TheNigerialawyer

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko
Muhammad said Justices of the Supreme Court are not a repository of
knowledge, hence they are fallible and always amenable to
correction.

Justice Muhammad, who stated this yesterday when members of
Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) paid him a courtesy
visit noted that;

“With the way we operate, if any of you has any reservations,
please, write to us, criticize us within the ambit of your
knowledge and experience.

‘’We can’t claim to know it all. We are still learning because
learning, as we all know, is a continuum. Our doors are wide open
for constructive criticisms. Even our grammar, punctuation have to
be corrected to avoid any error in the rulings and judgments we
give.”

The CJN told his visitors that Justices of the apex court don’t
pick offence when their written drafts of judgments were corrected,
especially errors arising from the use of grammar. He asserted that
it was a practice in force in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court
to ensure that all judgments come out in an acceptable manner after
all the necessary critics and corrections.

He said: “The rules provide that each Judge should give his own
independent judgement but they are equally at liberty to adopt what
has been offered. No coercion, no intimidation and no compelling
force to make any Judge align with the opinions and views of
others. We are very free to maintain our stance and even present a
dissenting judgement if we feel opposed to a popular view.’’

Justice Tanko Muhammad stated that even though he has not had
the opportunity of reading the 2019 AMCON Amendment Act, but from
the brief presentation made by the visiting team, he was convinced
that a good and thorough job was done and however, expressed
concern over the poor law enforcement mechanism put in place in the
country which has largely slowed down the wheel of justice.

The CJN, however, complained that the 60 days prescribed by the
2019 AMCON Amendment Act for the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court
to hear appeals on the Corporation’s matters was too short and
limited for the Justices to do a thorough work, as they always
carry out intensive research on every matter before arriving at the
right decision.

‘’The six months provided in the Amendment Act for the trial
courts is alright but as for the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court,
the 60 days timeline is not suitable. If we were consulted before
the amendment was done, we would have suggested something
different.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of AMCON, Mr. Ahmed Kuru expressed the
appreciation of the Corporation for the willingness of the court
and justices to assist them at every given opportunity, pointing
out that the various input from previous interactions and the last
meeting with the justices of the court were incorporated into the
2019 AMCON Amendment Act.

According to him, some of the key amendments are principally the
amendment of section six which among others, permits the
corporation to place bank account of debtors or the like under
surveillance by ex-parte order of Federal High Court; access to
debtors computer systems for the purpose of locating debtors’ funds
by ex-parte order of the Federal High Court; permits Corporation to
obtain access to debtors’ banking, financial and commercial
information and BVN from banks by ex-parte order of Federal High
Court; imposing an obligation on the Federal Government and Federal
Ministries, Departments and Agencies to seek AMCON clearance before
contracting with or making payments to recalcitrant debtors on list
furnished.

“Similarly, with the amendment of Section 19, there is now
provision for prior consent of Attorney General of the Federation
to the enforcement/execution of money judgment against AMCON and
protection against an interim or interlocutory attachment of
AMCON’s funds in any bank.

“The amended section 45, has now allowed a certificate of
judgment to constitute registrable interest,” Mr Kuru said.

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