Date Published: 01/14/10

NJC: Save Nigeria from Corruption

A new year,  a new day or so the saying goes, with major problems surrounding Nigeria from all angles early 2010, if its not our president going missing, then he has a damaged brain. Or he was even dead December 10, 2009. But the ministers would swear with their great grand fathers in the grave that our president is in Saudi recovering very speedily after medical exercise. The Nigerian footballers are not helping matters. They are in far away Angola embarrassing us at the Nation Cup. We have not gotten over the embarrassment caused by Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation Michael Aondoakaa over the corruption case involving James Ibori, former governor of Delta State . This is despite the hard work and tireless efforts of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to see him prosecuted.

Since 1999, our political leaders have taken umbrage under the immunity clause of the Constitution under Section 308 to render ineffective the express provisions of Section 15(5) of the same Constitution, which emphatically abhors all corrupt practices and abuse of power. Since these political chief executives cannot be removed from office however corrupt they might be, they have become so swollen-headed in their brigandage; so daring and diabolical in their dictatorial use of power and so shameless in their ungodliness.

For anti-corruption war to be taken seriously, we need to shed off the likes of Justice Marcel who was used to manipulate the Ibori case to set him free and Nigeria does not need questionable characters like that in our judicial system to sit over corruption cases. The Nigerian Judicial Council, NJC,  should take action against the petition written on Marcel, by so doing, it will show the judicial officers that there is need for other Judges across the country especially Nigerian judges, to know that a good name is better than riches, its better to uphold one’s integrity, take Justice Oyewole who despite the pressure mounted on him, refused to grant bail to Olabode George after imprisonment.. Please let 2010 be the year that corrupt Nigerians don’t mingle or co-habit freely with people of integrity.

Consequently, the National Judicial Council, NJC, recommended to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that two Justices, Hon. Justice Okechukwu Opene and Hon. Justice David Adedoyin Adeniji were guilty of corruption and abuse of office during election and that they should be sacked as Justices of the Court of Appeal. On the 3rd of May, 2005, the President acting under Section 292 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, dismissed those two Justices from the Judicial Bench of Nigeria. If the NJC react like this to all these corrupt judges, Nigeria will surely be rid of corruption for good.

Conclusively, corruption whether by looting money, internet or ATM fraud or through rigging election needs to vacate Nigeria permanently, let 2010 be the year when Nigeria becomes the giant of Africa again as we lost the title a long time ago. 

MAIMUNA ABUBAKAR