The Presidency has said the arrest of Judges for alleged corruption has not
breached any tenets of democracy.
A statement by Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu said while the
Department of State Security, DSS, followed due processes in the arrest of
the Judges, the president remains a committed democrat.
Garba Shehu’s statement reads:
“The Presidency assures that the President reserves his highest respect
for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government.
“To this end, the President will not do anything to undermine its
independence.
“President Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his
actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.
“The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is
specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an
institution.
“In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of
opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the
country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected.
“But reports by a section of the media are giving us cause for concern.
In undertaking the task of reporting, the media should be careful about
the fault lines they open. It is wrong to present this incident as a
confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government.
“The Presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due
processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest
warrants were obtained before the searches.
“To suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial
manner is to breach the interest of the state.”