Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), said on Monday, that the National Judicial Council had the power to place judges under investigation on interim suspension.
Falana said in a statement that the position held by the NJC to the effect that it had no power to suspend judges without first receiving a petition against a judge and investigating it was wrong.
Citing the provisions of the newly launched National Judicial Policy and a similar scenario in 2006, the lawyer said the NJC had to seek the help of the Department of State Service to investigate some of judges accused of taking N10m bribe after placing them on interim suspension.
Falana said, “If the NJC had treated this national crisis with the urgency required it should have investigated the matter based on the avalanche of materials placed before it.
“Interestingly, the NJC had handled a similar complaint of judicial corruption about a decade ago.
“That was in 2006 when it was alleged that the members of the Akwa Ibom governorship election petition tribunal had received bribes to pervert Justice.
“Without prejudice to the innocence of the judges, the NJC suspended them and requested the Director-General of the SSS to conduct a discreet investigation into the allegation.
“Upon the receipt of the report of the investigation it was found that each of the members of the tribunal had received a bribe of N10m while a judge of the Federal High Court had acted as a conduit in the scandal.
“At that stage the judges were confronted with the allegations. As their defence was found unsatisfactory the NJC recommended their removal from the bench.
“Furthermore, the NJC referred the matter to the Independent and Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission. One of the indicted judges collapsed and died when the ICPC operatives wanted to arrest him in his house in Makurdi, Benue State!”
The Nigerian Bar Association had called for the suspension four serving judges among the seven, whose houses were raided by the DSS operatives between October 7 and 8.
Falana said while the NJC had called an emergency meeting to address the arrest of the judges, it had not deemed it fit to investigate the allegations levelled against the judges.
He said apart from Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, whose house was searched but was not arrested, the rest of the judges had not frontally denied the allegations levelled against them.