The Islamic human rights organization has said via a statement signed by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, that “Judicial corruption fuels impunity. It is the worst type of corruption because that is where we go when the system is corrupt, he added. The statement reads:
“Any
nation whose judicial system is led by corrupt judges is sitting on the
precipice. Judicial corruption should not be tolerated in any sane
society. It corrodes the rule of law. It is a cancerous tumour in any
nation’s anatomy and any surgeon worth the salt will not hesitate to
amputate a cancerous part of the body in order to save the rest.
“Judicial
corruption enthrones corrupt politicians in political offices. It robs
hardworking, honest and credible politicians of well-deserved victory at
the polls. Judicial corruption is the deadliest enemy of democracy. It
debilitates the rule of law, renders equal rights unattainable and puts
asunder any dream of an egalitarian society. Judiciary is the last hope
of the common man and a corrupt judge dashes the hope of the ordinary
citizen.
“A corrupt judiciary poses the most potent threat to
crime fighters like policemen, anti-corruption agencies, anti-graft
activists, human rights activists, etc. The efforts of these patriotic
elements who put their lives on the line for the sake of society will be
in vain if the judiciary is corrupt. Corrupt judges frustrate the
efforts of crime fighters. A corrupt judiciary emboldens criminals and
corrupt people as they always know that they can bribe their way out in
court.
“Nobody can wipe out corruption where the judiciary itself
is enmeshed in dirty deals. It is like pouring water inside a basket in
an attempt to fill it up. A hundred bucketfuls cannot achieve that.
That is why MURIC is sounding this note of warning. Allow FG to handle
the case of the CJN now before it infects the whole system.
“Something
is wrong with us as a people if we want to defend a chief judge who
made five different cash deposits of $10,000 each into Standard
Chartered Bank Account 1062650 on 8th March 2011; made two separate cash
deposits of $5000 each on 7th June 2011 followed by four cash deposits
of $10,000 each on the same day. Again on 27th June 2011, Justice
Onnoghen made another set of five separate cash deposits of $10,000 each
and made four more cash deposits of $10,000 each on the following day,
28th June 2011. Are the rest of us who are poor Nigerians created to
shine his shoes and lick his boots?
“MURIC is concerned because
Islam abhors materialism. What is a judge doing with so much money when
80 million fellow citizens are wallowing in abject penury? Can we take
any accumulated wealth to the grave? Do we know when our time will be
up? Where are those before us who stole all the milk and honey in the
land?
The Muslim Rights Concern is concerned because even if all
public office holders are accumulating wealth unjustly, the chief judge
of the land must be above board like Caesar’s wife. The Qur’an says all
the wealth in this world cannot make a man live forever (104:1-9; 102:1-
.
Umar bin Khattab insisted that governors appointed by him must declare
their assets immediately they are appointed and immediately after
leaving office.
All these are allegations made in the petition
written against him by a lawyer human rights activist and instead of the
judge to deny them he claims to have forgotten to declare them in his
asset declaration. If ignorance of the law is no excuse, what do we call
this claim of forgetfulness made by the numero uno lawman of the
federation? Justice Onnoghen should resign immediately if there is any
decency left in him.
This is definitely not the ideal symbol of
justice a nation can be proud of. We are making a mockery of the bench
if high-ranking lawyers bend over backwards to defend the indefensible
in this case. We seem to be unable to face the truth in this society.
Other countries are making progress by punishing corrupt judges. Who did
this to Nigeria?
“In China, Huang Songyou, a former Chinese
supreme court judge was jailed for life after being convicted of
embezzlement and receiving nearly £500,000 in bribes. Another judge,
Wang Suyi was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for bribery.
Indonesia’s corruption court sentenced one of the country’s top judges
to eight years in prison for taking bribes in January 2017.
“In
Pakistan, a five-member panel of judges ruled that Justice Patrialis
Akbar was guilty of receiving thousands of dollars from a meat importer
to influence the outcome of a judicial review of the law on animal
husbandry. Mark Ciavarella, a corrupt judge in the United States was
sent to 28 years in June 2018 for selling kids to private prisons while
Munir Patel, an ordinary British court clerk was sentenced to four years
in prison in 2011 for receiving £100,000 bribe because Britain will not
stomach corruption in its criminal justice system.
“The choice
is ours, whether to deal decisively with corrupt judges in order to
instill discipline in the judiciary or to allow tribal jingoism,
acrobatic religiousity and articulated political sentiment to override
our objectivity.
For the avoidance of doubts, we assert clearly,
categorically and unequivocally that MURIC will continue to support this
regime not because the president is a Muslim (he is not the only Muslim
candidate anyway) or because of his political leaning but because the
president has unassailable integrity and because this is the only regime
that has made fighting corruption its cardinal focus.
“We are
also not unaware of the personal risks involved, they are simply part of
the hazards of human rights activism. We are prepared to do even more
in the interest of our dear country and in defense of Allah-given
fundamental human rights of Nigerian Muslims and the rest of its
citizens.
On a last note, we reiterate that Justice Onnoghen is a
clog in the wheel of justice. Wailers should allow the law to take its
due course. It is most dangerous for Nigeria to approach a general
election with a jaundiced judicial system. The Nigerian people have lost
confidence in him. He should resign without delay”.
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