Several months after 14 justices of the Supreme Court wrote a petition against the then CJN, Tanko Muhammed, DIRISU YAKUBU reports that the Senate and the Federal Government have yet to investigate allegations of corruption against the ex-CJN
Like it was when he was in active service, not much has been heard of him since his voluntary retirement as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, last year. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, the former number one legal officer in the country has remained in his shell since his resignation in 2022.
In this part of the world, public office holders hardly throw in the towel, regardless of the gravity of their official misconduct. Rather than quit, they hire from the pool of jobless youths, an army of supporters who stage protests in their favour, advancing and justifying their continued stay in office.
Last year, Justice Tanko did what would have ordinarily won him loads of applause. He resigned his appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, citing ill-health as reason for his inability to continue to stay in office. A few Nigerians hailed the decision and called on others to emulate his sacrifice.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) had, while reacting to Justice Tanko’s resignation, said he received the news with “mixed feelings.” Yet, the vast majority went for his jugular, arguing that his resignation was intended to divert public focus from the legion of allegations levelled against him.
Shortly before his resignation, 14 Supreme Court Justices in a joint petition accused the then CJN of financial recklessness and maladministration. They specifically accused him of abdicating his responsibilities and diverting public funds intended for the day-to-day running of the apex court.
Under Tanko’s stewardship, the justices said little, or no attention was paid to their accommodation needs while vehicles, electricity tariff, supply of diesels and internet services for their use, had all been treated shabbily. Not done, they demanded to know what had become of the monies set aside for the training of judges, particularly the three weeks international workshops for Judges of the apex court annually.
In the leaked petition, the 14 justices of the apex court had accused the ex-CJN of abandoning his responsibilities and diverting funds meant for the running of the Supreme Court.
However, the ex-CJN said the Supreme Court under his stewardship lived up to its constitutional obligations.
His words: “When a budget is made, it contains two sides, that’s the recurrent and the capital, yet all the two are broken down into items. The Federal Government releases the budget based on the budget components. And it’s an offence to spend the money meant for one item for another,” Justice Tanko in the allegations against him.
He had argued that the harsh economic realities of the times were partly informed the reason the apex court had to cope with some with some situations.
He said, “The Supreme Court definitely does not exist outside its environment. It is also affected by the economic and socio-political climate prevailing in the country. Besides that, the apex court has to a larger extent, been living to its constitutional responsibility.
“Take, for instance, the Supreme Court budgeted this year (2022) to re-roof and rehabilitate its complex built over 30 years ago and that is being done. The work on the extension of the complex is near completion, the aesthetic lawns and cleanness of the perimeters are being well-kept, and security and water supply are adequately provided.
“During the pandemic, a profound and extra-care was maintained to avoid casualties among them as well as the staff generally. It would have amounted to an act of irresponsibility to divert money meant for the above for otherwise.”
If his resignation was meant to lay to rest the multiple graft allegations leveled against him, Tanko soon got more than he bargained for, as the Senate called upon its Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to wade into the matter to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the weighty allegations.
President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, at a plenary where the issue was slated for deliberation said lawmakers mandated “The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to go ahead with its assignment in the quest to find a lasting solution to the matter by interacting with relevant stakeholders to address the complaints raised in the petition by the Justices of the Supreme Court.”
Responding, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Opeyemi Bamidele had said, “The poor welfare of Judicial Officers would affect the delivery of the judiciary in respect of their output and will prevent them from performing optimally.
“The sacred image of the judiciary, which is the epicentre of the temple of justice should be preserved by the Senate through appropriate legislative measures in order to safeguard this highly revered institution and prevent it from being ridiculed.
“Though Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed has stepped down as CJN, most of the issues raised by the Justices of the Supreme Court and other stakeholders within the Judiciary, still remain and need to be addressed urgently to prevent an eventual shutdown of the Judiciary.”
With no demonstration of official eagerness to revisit the mountains of allegations against the retired Justice, some analysts believe that the current government’s war against corruption leaves much to be desired.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal
Matters however has said events have overtaken the allegations of corruption levelled against the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammed.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters had told The PUNCH in July last year that it would begin the probe of the ex-CJN after the Senate recess but it never presented its report to the house.
Our correspondent could not reach the committee chairman, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, as calls to his phone failed to connect. He had yet to respond to a message sent to his phone as of the time of filing this report.
But responding to inquiries from our correspondent, the clerk to the Senate Committee, Fatima Jiddum, said that the matters had been overtaken by events.
She simply said, “ It’s overtaken by event.” She failed to respond further when asked to provide more details on her statement.
The Director of Press in the Supreme Court, Dr. Festus Akande, simply said, “No comment.”
Meanwhile, several calls and messages to the Director of Information in National Judicial Council, Soji Oye and the Special Assistant, Public Relations, to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Dr. Umar Gwandu, on the issue were not replied.
Speaking exclusively to The PUNCH, renowned human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome labelled the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd)-led government as the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. According to the Senor Advocate of Nigeria, at no time in the life of the nation has Nigerians witnessed more corrupt practices on the part of government than now.
He said, “Is this government fighting corruption? I am not aware. No government has germinated, harboured, nurtured and hugged corruption more than this government since the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates by Lord Federick Lugard on the January 1, 1914.”
Sharing his thoughts with our correspondent, constitutional lawyer, Abdul Mahmud noted that if indeed Justice Tanko soiled his hands, it is not in the place of the executive arm to prosecute him.
He noted, “My view is that it is not in the place of an executive agency or the executive branch to probe a judicial officer, no less the CJN on infractions of his judicial oaths. The constitution of Nigeria, 1999 establishes the different spheres of power exercise by the three arms of government under Section 4,5,6 respectively.”
Also speaking, renowned activist and Founder, Women Arise, Dr Joe Okey-Odumakin said the issues go beyond what Justice Tanko did or failed to do, stressing that unless the country is restructured, corruption would continue to dominate the affairs of the nation.
“We have a bar of corruption which we can’t rise above, piecemeal. It is everywhere, not just the judiciary. If we want to raise the bar, we must first restructure the country. Corruption has thickened more since 2015. It will only get worse with successive administration unless we take it beyond the mouths of politicians who issue dud cheques during campaigns,” she stated.
Political analyst, Jackson Ojo, on his part, advanced reasons the former CJN was probably left off the hook, suggesting that what current government does is not a holistic but selective fight against corruption.
