Skip to main content

Rivers APC rejects 2 judges on NJC Ethics Committee

Chief-Justice-of-the-Federation-CJN-Justice-Mahmud-MohammedThe Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to drop Justice Iche Ndu (retd) and Okey Wali, SAN, former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) from the Judicial Ethics Committee.

The party described the judges as loyalists of Governor Nyesom Wike and the Peoples Democratoic Party (PDP).

A statement signed by Chris Finebone, Publicity Secretary of the party, expressed shock over the appointment of two well-known PDP sympathisers, foot soldiers and close associates of Governor Wike as members of the 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee of the National Judicial Council (NJC) with a mandate to review the Code of Conduct for judicial officers in the country.

”The APC vehemently rejects the inclusion of these two individuals in a critical committee such as the Judicial Ethics Committee of the NJC charged with an all-important task of reviewing the code of conduct for judicial officers.

”Indeed, their inclusion underscores the unwillingness and unpreparedness of the NJC to buy into the anti-corruption drive of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

”The APC views this action by the NJC as the height of insensitivity and brazen resistance to the efforts by the government to sanitize the Nigerian judiciary,” APC stated.

The party said the Chairman of NJC and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and the rest of the Council members cannot feign ignorance of the overt political leanings of Iche Ndu and Okey Wali as PDP and Governor Nyesom Wike’s political facilitators whose activities and influence on judges are presently under investigation.

“We make bold to state that this obvious display of indiscretion by the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NJC smacks of inexplicable thoughtlessness, befuddles the mind and sears through good conscience.

“For the record, retired Justice Iche Ndu and Okey Wali are unarguable ardent supporters of the Rivers State governor who have been variously named in petitions bordering on compromising of various judges and the petitions are subject of ongoing investigations.

“Therefore, it is disturbing that the NJC would blatantly ignore the unfolding events around the two individuals and perniciously appoint them into a very sensitive job of reviewing code of conduct for judicial officers.”

”APC therefore calls on the NJC and its Chairman, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed to drop retired Justice Iche Ndu and Bar. Okey Wali SAN from the NJC 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee without delay.

”The APC hereby serves notice to the NJC to do the needful immediately or face a well-mobilised and long-drawn protest by the APC which will include occupying selected locations in Port Harcourt and Abuja.

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...
Post a Comment
Read more