The former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed has justified the recommendation of Justice Walter Onnoghen to succeed him, as the Acting CJN, pending his confirmation by the Senate and the eventually affirmation from the presidency.
Justice Mohammed, during his valedictory session at the Supreme Court in Abuja, informed that the National Judicial Council (NJC), applied the guidelines vigorously in order to ensure the orderly conduct of the process for the appointment of the next CJN, in the person of Justice Onnoghen.
Despite the wild speculations and inaccurate reporting on the integrity and impartiality of the process, the exercise culminated in Justice Mohammed’s recommendation for appointment after going through the rigorous interview process of the NJC.
Pursuant to the retirement of Justice Mohammed, there had been speculations within the executive arm of government to substitute the nomination of Justice Onnoghen, for a Northerner, as it’s preferred choice.
Even though Justice Onnoghen was recommended alongside Justices Tanko Muhammad and Suleiman Galadima; Justice Onnoghen was much favoured as the former CJN said he was handing over to him.
Furthermore, Justice Mohammed in his valedictory speech recounted the ups and downs of his two year tenure as the CJN, stating that the Nigerian Supreme Court is arguably the most overworked Supreme Court in the world.
The former CJN, whose tenure began during the pendency of the industrial strike embarked upon by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), over the refusal of the Federal and State governments to respect the financial autonomy of the judiciary, as held by the judgement of a Federal High Court, said that the issue still remains largely unresolved.
On the issue of discipline and ethical framework in the judiciary, he noted that this has been strengthened with the adoption of the revised code of conduct for judicial officers, 2014 and the National Judicial Policy, 2016.
“These disciplinary actions are the regrettable, yet necessary steps that we have had to take in order to secure and restore the reputation of our beloved judiciary, from the scourge of corruption and gross misconduct in public offices.
“The independence of the judiciary is a condicio sine qua non for any civilised society to function effectively and peacefully. It is an institution which, more than any other must be protected, sustained and carefully handled”, he said.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, who was represented by the Solicitor General while eulogising the achievements during Justice Mohammed’s tenure urged the new leadership of the Supreme Court to “continue to demonstrate it’s resolve to ensure that the standards of our judiciary will progressively be improved”.
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, in his address said that the NBA has tried very hard in the last couple of weeks to maintain the delicate balance of fulfilling one of its sacred duties of defending and maintaining the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession.
“I will like to emphasis that our position is unequivocal and there is indeed no contradiction. The fight against corruption is an imperative for our country. The legal profession must do it’s part. We maintain however that this must be done in accordance with the due process and the requirements of the rule of law.
“We will not accept the style of operations adopted by the Department of State Security. We condemn that approach, we will not accept that any department of government can exercise supervisory powers over the National Judicial Council as the DSS sought to do, our constitution prohibits it”, Mahmoud stated.
