A Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, has faulted the claim by the National Judicial Council that it cannot suspend judges involved in allegations of corruption.

The NJC had made the claim in response to advice by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, on the seven judges arrested by the State Security Service after their homes were raided on October 7, over allegations of corruption.

In the aftermath of the arrests, the NJC described the development as a denigration of the judiciary, adding that the council would not succumb to any form of external intimidation.

The NBA, in an initial decision also condemned the arrests. But it later called for the suspension of the affected judges pending the determination of the allegations against them.

In its reaction, the NJC described the reported financial allegations against the judges in the media as “judgements of the court of public opinion” and added that the demand by the NBA was unacceptable.

“NJC is constrained to inform the general public that its constitutional mandate is to process and recommend to the Executive at the Federal and State levels, the appointment, and or the removal of judicial officers from office, including exercise of its disciplinary control of suspending and or warning judicial officers; after complying with due process and the Rule of Law.

“Since the creation of NJC vide the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, it has exercised its powers and performed its functions within its constitutional limitations.

“Thus, the current position of the Nigerian Bar Association vis-à-vis its recommendation that the affected Judicial Officers involved in the on-going investigation of Judicial Officers by the DSS, be requested to proceed on compulsory leave until the conclusion of all disciplinary proceedings against them, is unacceptable to the NJC; as it breaches the 2014 Revised Judicial Discipline Regulations formulated by NJC pursuant to Section 160 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended,” the NJC said.

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