The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the arrest of 7 judges for alleged corruption and abuse of office by the Department of State Security (DSS). It will be recalled that the Department of State Security Service had arrested the judges in what it termed a “sting operation” on October 7th and 8th prior to a later grant of administrative bail on self-recognizance. Two of the judges include Justices Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court.
Moving the motion under matters of urgent public importance at the House plenary session of Tuesday, October 11th 2016, Hon. Kingsley Chinda (PDP:Rivers) expressed concerns over the manner in which the judges were arrested. According to him, the residences of the 7 judges were invaded by the DSS prior to their arrest at early hours of October 8th 2016 in various parts of the country. Hon. Chinda also affirmed the principles of separation of powers and the constitutionally guaranteed independence of the three arms of government before highlighting that the provisions of Section 153 (1)(i) and Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empower the National Judicial Council (NJC) as the appropriate body to regulate and discipline judicial officers in the country. He said further that Sections 2, 3 and 6 of the National Security Agencies Act 1986 which define the State Security Service (SSS) mandate did not include the investigation/ prosecuting of corruption and abuse of office.
Hon. Chinda also confirmed that none of the affected judicial officers had been invited for questioning by the SSS prior to their arrest and that even the AGF was not notified before the operation was carried out. He also warned that the crisis was capable of truncating Nigeria’s democracy if left unchecked.
The matter, which has been referred to an ad-hoc committee to investigate the circumstances of the raid and report, supports a similar Senate resolution moved by Senator Joshua Lidani (PDP:Gombe). Interestingly, both the Senate and the House resolution rejected the motion inviting Mr Daura Lawan, Director General of the State Security Service on an issue that the Chief Justice of Nigeria has described as “sad” and “regrettable”.
