Your Lordship, Ibukunolu A. Babajide,
How much I wish that all Nigeria's treasury looters, illicit wealth acquirers, robbers and other criminals are arrested, tried and sentenced the same day. As your Lordship knows, no country in the world has ever succeeded in performing the feat to arrest and prosecute all its criminals in one day.That is why, dispensation of justice is always selective and your Lordship in his wisdom, I suppose, will never set a criminal free because there are other criminals yet to be arrested and prosecuted.
Your Lordship asserted, "Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal has been turned into a body used to witch-hunt opponents." Although, your Lordship did not tell who has turned the CCB and CCT into witch-hunting opponents, your Lordship mentioned in item two (2) that former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu and current Senate President, Bukola Saraki have escaped CCP and CCT witch-hunting, which caused you to assume that Chief Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen must also escape from his witch hunters. If I am permitted as a layman to reason with your Lordship, I will submit that the unnamed power that is deploying the CCB and CCT to witch-hunt opponents must be able to direct the CCT to convict the trapped opponents of the unnamed power. However, the evidence before the whole world was that the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) which tried Tinubu actually exonerated him from all the charges brought against him. Similarly, Senator Bukola Saraki got all the charges against him quashed by the CCT but the prosecutor appealed to the Court of Appeal where some of the charges were referred to the CCT for retrial. Both Saraki and the prosecutor appealed to the Supreme Court. While Saraki's lawyer submitted that the three charges referred to the CCT be quashed, the prosecutor asked that all original charges at the CCT be resuscitated. The Supreme Court which granted the Prayer of Senator Bukola Saraki considered the charge of false declaration of assets against him as mere gossiping. And what was mere gossiping?
By his own admission in his asset declaration after becoming the Governor of Kwara State in 2003, Saraki had N51.5 million, 2.9 million pounds sterling and $400,000 US dollars in his domiciliary accounts, in Nigeria. He owned properties in Nigeria worth more than 2.2 trillion naira. He also owned eight properties in London - all purchased around the same time in 2003 and worth more than $12.6 million US dollars. He had 15 automobiles (bought between 1997 and 2002) ranging from Ferrari to Mercedes Benzes with four of the vehicles being bullet-proof and all valued at more than N263 million. Before he became Governor in 2003, Saraki was worth N10.2 billion. Saraki had no factory and had never manufactured any products for sales. Those were what the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, dismissed as mere gossiping. We now know that the Supreme Court judgment in favour of Saraki's false declaration of assets was a shield against the false declaration of assets and illicit acquisition of foreign currencies by Chief Justice Onnoghen. Back to the root of my reasoning with your Lordship, neither Tinubu nor Saraki was convicted by the CCT, the same CCT your Lordship claimed is acting under the directives of the power that be against its opponents. May I remark here that Bukola Saraki was still a member of the APC, the same political party that controls the Presidency, when his trial at CCT began and finished. So whose opponent was Saraki?
The impression I gain from your third point is that since neither the Presidency, from the President down to the messanger, nor the legislature or the judiciary will pass corruption or theft test, Nigerians should just give up and accept their fates as enforced on us by our national plunderers. Of all the three arms of government in Nigeria, only the Judiciary contains professional people with legal education. The power of judges to adjudicate over cases makes them the promoters of peace and progress in the society. The saying that 'the judiciary is the last hope of common man' will be meaningless if Justice is auctioned by Judges to the highest bidder and thereby eroding the principle of 'equality of all citizens before the law.' Viewed from the aforesaid, your Lordship will agree with me that the Judiciary stands highest to curb any criminal behaviours of the Executive, the Legislature, politicians and public servants. But that can only be done by corruption-free judiciary. Our experience in Nigeria, is that Judicial officers connive to share with national treasury looters the proceeds of lootings. The larger the amount of money stolen the bigger the share of court registrars, lawyers and judges. It is officially known that Nigeria is the only country in the world where people can go to court to obtain perpetual injunctions from Judges against being arrested, interrogated, detained and prosecuted in court for corruption and theft. Should the prosecutor appeal against such perpetual injunction, the registrar of the Court of Appeal would see to it that the Appel is never listed for hearing, e. g., the former Governor of River State, Peter Odili's, perpetual injunction which the EFCC appealed against since 2007 is yet to be listed for hearing as of date. Where the prosecutor succeeds in arraigning a looter in court, the usual practice for the Judge is to adjourn the case sine die after granting bail to the looter. By this patern of behaviour, cases of corrupt enrichment involving public officials are still pending in Nigerian courts, twelve years after commencements. Chief Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Ennoghen has been exposed to own heavily fat accounts in foreign currencies e. g. Euros, Dollars and Pound Sterlings in Nigeria, which he deposited in person. He is obliged to tell Nigerians the sources of those foreign currencies including his fat naira account deposits. Or is he Chief Justice of Bureau de Change?
Not unexpected, the crime of false declaration of assets and criminally concealing illicit acquisition of foreign currencies by Chief Justice Ennoghen have been ethnically coloured by five South-South governors. They claimed that the charge against Chief Justice Onnoghen is an attempt to marginalize the people of the South-South even though the foreign currencies and millions of naira in his accounts belong personally to Chief Justice Ennoghen and the people of South-South have no share in the monies. They faulted the trial of the Chief Justice thus, "Under Section 158 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has ample power to deal exhaustively with matters pertaining to allegations of misconduct and discipline of Judicial Officers." Thereafter, they cited cases of FGN vs Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme court and Justice Ngajinwa vs FGN in which it was stated that those Judges could not be charged to court without the consent of the NJC. What the South-South failed to recognize is that the judgments have been appealed against at the Supreme Court where Chief Justice Ennoghen is presiding as the head. Now we know why there have been delays in listing the cases for hearing and conclusions. I underlined the word misconduct to emphasize that the power of NJC, under Section 158 (1) is limited to administrative discipline of Judicial Officers and does not cover criminal matters. The power of NJC to discipline any Judicial officer is not different for what obtains in the Federal Civil Service Commission whose power is to discipline any erring civil servant administratively. The claim by the South-South Governors implies, for example, that if Chief Justice Onnoghen should drink alcohol and drive his car over a foot path to kill a person, the police can never arrest and charge him to court for the criminal offence unless the case is first reported to the NJC for administrative discipline and recommendation. The courts are inferring immunity on their bench members contrary to section 308 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria which provides immunity only to the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors of the States in Nigeria. No section of the Nigerian Constitution or law stipulates that a judicial officer cannot be tried in any court of law whatsoever unless the matter in question, even if it is criminal in nature, had first been investigated and completely treated by the National Judicial Council. In Europe and the USA, from where we borrowed our system of government and democracy, Chief Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen would have resigned quietly because of the heavy evidence about his criminal behaviour concerning failure to declare his assets and illicit acquisition of foreign currencies. No professional words' twister, otherwise known as SAN in Nigeria, can change the implicating documentary evidence against him.
S. Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Ibukunolu A Babajide <ibk2005@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 14 januari 2019 12:25
Till: USAAfricaDialogue
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Today's Quote
Skickat: den 14 januari 2019 12:25
Till: USAAfricaDialogue
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Today's Quote
Dear Salimonu Kadiri,
I in 99% of your posts, I agree with you. On this one I want to disagree with you on three grounds:
1. Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal has been turned into a body used to witch-hunt opponents;
2. Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu escaped; Senate President Bukola Saraki escaped; and Walter Onnonghen too must escape from its witch-hunting clutches; and
3. From the President down to the messengers in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial arms of government should be subjected to the same standards, they will ALL fail the test.
"R v Sussex Justices, Ex parte McCarthy ([1924] 1 KB 256, [1923] All ER Rep 233) is a leading English case on the impartiality and recusal of judges. It is famous for its precedence in establishing the principle that the mere appearance of bias is sufficient to overturn a judicial decision. It also brought into common parlance the oft-quoted aphorism "Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done."
The appearance of justice is equally as important as justice itself. Because this man will head the ultimate Election Petition process the Attorney-General Mallami unwisely wants to use this as a way to get rid of him. He is a lightweight lawyer without requisite experience. Instead he has exposed himself and the incompetent cabal in the government. This stupidity will strengthen the position of the CJN and weaken the position of the President.
It is an OWN GOAL from an incompetent AGF. I am a staunch APC supporter but this one is an unforgivable gaff.
Cheers.
IBK
_________________________
Ibukunolu Alao Babajide (IBK)
(+2348061276622) / ibk2005@gmail.com
AN ENGLISH NURSERY RHYME
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose
The law demands that we atone
When we take things that we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine
The poor and wretched don't escape
If they conspire the law to break
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back
- Anonymous (circa 1764)
On Sun, 13 Jan 2019 at 11:26, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:
--While the overeducated Nigerians worry about the speed at which the case of Chief Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen was investigated, the norm in the world is : Justice delayed, is justice denied.
For us, majority illiterate Nigerians, what we want to know from the Chief Justice are : what were the sources of the US dollars he deposited into his Standard Chartered Bank (Nig.) Ltd account nr. 1062650 in the following manners - five different cash deposits of $10,000 each ($50,000 total) on 8 March 2011; two separate cash deposits of $5,000 each ($10,000 total) followed by four cash deposits of $10,000 each ($40, 000 total), all on 7 June 2011; another set of five separate cash deposits of $10,000 each ($50,000 total) on 27 June 2011; and four more cash deposits of $10,000 each ($40,000 total) on 28 June 2011?And why did he fail to declare them as required by the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act?S. Kadiri
Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM <chidi.opara@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 12 januari 2019 20:52
Till: USA African Dialogue Series
Ämne: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Today's QuoteThe Chief Justice of Nigeria case must be the fastest investigation in the history of world investigations.
The petition was received on the 9th of January, 2019 and by close of office on 10th January, 2019, arraignment notice has already been filed!
(C) Chidi Anthony Opara
#2019Quotes
--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a "Life Time Achievement"Awardee Of Maritime Watch Newspaper(Nigeria), Registered Freight Forwarder, Professional Fellow Of Institute Of Information Managerment, Africa, Poet and Publisher of PublicInformationProjects
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment