Aloma Mukhtar’s first year as CJN: The score card
In a couple of days from now she would clock one year in office as CJN but her onslaught against the rot in the judiciary makes it look like she has spent several years on the saddle. A year before her elevation to her current position as CJN, the judicial rot was proverbial, although her […]
In a couple of days from now she would clock one year in office as CJN but her onslaught against the rot in the judiciary makes it look like she has spent several years on the saddle.
A year before her elevation to her current position as CJN, the judicial rot was proverbial, although her predecessor, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, also tried his best. No fewer than 250 case files were missing in criminal cases while almost the same amount of case files were also missing in civil cases which helped to worsen the plight of awaiting trial inmates and court congestion. In some cases, especially in election cases, judges appointed to en panel election petition tribunals became billionaires over night and it was then often asked ‘why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge’.
To say all was not well in the judiciary before she took over as the CJN may appear as an understatement. But while she was responding to questions on the state of the judiciary during her screening for the CJN job by the Senate on July 11, 2012, Justice Mukhtar also admitted that the nation’s temple of justice has been desecrated by some elements. She vowed at the same time to deal decisively with erring judicial officers.“As at now, it is very bad and I am saddened by it. I will try. I don’t want to sound like a broken record. I will try to make sure that the confidence reposed in the judiciary, as it was before, is returned. I will try to ensure that the bad eggs that are there are flushed out. That there will be a cleansing by the National Judicial Council (NJC) based on petitions. It is sad that the ordinary man on the street thinks and feels that he cannot get justice. This is because of the situation we find ourselves. I will ensure that this perception changes,” the new CJN said. Justice Mukhtar promised then to embark on cleansing the judiciary based on petitions filed before the NJC against erring judges.
The two other weapons are the yearly NJC’s Nigeria Judicial Performance Evaluation report and her newly introduced practice direction for all courts in the country to fast-track trials of offences involving terrorism, rape, kidnapping, corruption, money laundering, human trafficking and related matters.
Petitions against judicial officials
Determined like Hercules, the Greek mythological hero who was given the task of “cleaning the Augean stable” in one day, Justice Mukhtar had as of May 13, 2013 gone through 337 petitions filed against judicial officers before the NJC. The CJN disclosed this in the speech she delivered at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Action Group tagged, ’’The Rule of Law – The Bedrock for Sustainable Democracy’’, held at the Lagos City Hall on May 13-14, 2013.”I inherited 139 petitions, 106 of which were vexatious or baseless, only 33 of the petitions were considered worthy of attention. After my assumption of office as chief justice, 198 fresh petitions were filed. Of this number, 150 were found to be frivolous, 15 are awaiting responses from judges and only 21 were slated for consideration,’’ she stated.
By November 5, 2012 Justice Mukhtar deferred the swearing-in of Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofor alongside other 11 justices to the Court of Appeal following allegations that Jombo-Ofor had laid claim to two different states of origin in her career.
Like what Americans usually call an amoral crowd, there was a public outcry forgetting that Paragraph 2 of Part II of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment) Act Subsidiary Legislation which is yet to be amended states that: “a married woman shall continue to lay claim to her state of origin for the purpose of implementation of the Federal Character Formulae at the national level.”
After appeals from several stakeholders, calling on her to temper justice with mercy, the CJN alongside NJC members considered the situation and Jombo-Ofor was thereafter sworn-in as the Court of Appeal justice on the slot of Anambra State rather than laying claim to her husband’s Abia State of origin.
Justice Mukhtar led NJC to deepen its offensive against corruption by asking President Goodluck Jonathan on February 28, 2013 to compulsorily retire Justice Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court.
The council added that the Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, should retire Justice T. D. Naron of the High Court of Justice, Plateau State. The council also set up a ‘fact finding’ committee to investigate the allegations levelled against Justice Abubakar Talba of the FCT High Court in the Police Pension case of the EFCC vs Mr. John Yusuf & Ors.
President Jonathan retired Achibong on February 28, 2013. The judge’s troubles started last year when two petitions were written against him to the NJC.
And on April 26, 2013, NJC suspended Justice Talba from office for a period of 12 months without pay sequel to the council’s findings that he did not exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously with regard to the sentences he passed on Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf who was convicted for stealing N1.3 billion meant for payment of pension and gratuities of retired policemen. The council also issued a warning against Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court in Lagos who is to retire from service on May 18, 2013; the council considered his responses and decided to warn him.
Thus far, here are no less than 60 petitions undergoing consideration and awaiting responses of the judicial officials, while fresh ones are pouring in from time to time.
But it is also significant to note that it is not all kinds of petitions against judicial officers that the CJN is prepared to welcome. For instance, out of 337 petitions, she demanded responses of judges to only 60 and threw the rest into the dust bin.
With experience, Justice Mukhtar knows the havoc some of the supporting staff usually unleash in the justice delivery system. She therefore sounded a note of warning to the group on June 17 this year in a keynote address she delivered at a workshop organised by the National Judicial Institute (NJI) for librarians working in the judiciary.