NBA to Accused Judges: Step Down Now

Two justices of the Su­preme Court, Sylvester Ngwuta and John Inyang Okoro and five Federal High Court judges were arrested between October 7 and 8 and later released on bail af­ter their official homes were invaded. But the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has asked the judges whose homes were raided by op­eratives of the Department of State Services (DSS) to stop further judicial func­tions pending when their names are cleared of the al­legations of corruption lev­eled against them.At a valedictory court session in honour of retir­ing Justice Sotonye Denton-West of the Court of Appeal on Thursday in Abuja, the NBA President, Mr. Abuba­kar Mahmoud (SAN), said the issue of corruption in the Judiciary had become worrisome to all Nigerians.He called on the Na­tional Judicial Council (NJC) to take urgent meas­ures to restore public confi­dence in the Judiciary.“We have emphasised our commitment to safeguarding the independence of the na­tion’s judiciary. We have also spoken firmly on our commit­ment to rid the judiciary and indeed the bar of all corrupt el­ements.“In the course of the last several days, the NBA has con­tinued to hold high level con­sultations with all segments of the Bar and other stakehold­ers and indeed the administra­tion on how to address what has obviously become a ma­jor concern to all Nigerians within and outside the coun­try”, he said.Justice Denton-West ad­vised judicial officers not to be carried away by the lure of corruption that seems to have crept into the judiciary.The celebrant, who is retir­ing from the Bench having at­tained the mandatory retire­ment age of 70, said “the recent reports on the Judiciary leave a sour taste in the mouth”.In her remarks, the Pres­ident of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, described the celebrant as an “eminent jurist” who was ever ready for any judicial assign­ment, and carried out such du­ties “with vigour and zeal.”