The Justice Observatory Journal

A publication of Access to Justice Access to Justice About Access to Justice (A2Justice) Access to Justice (A2Justice) sets out to defend rights of equal and non-discriminatory access to institutions of justice, expand access to impartial justice, strengthen integrity in the administration of justice and support legal struggles for human freedom and dignity. Operating under three mutually reinforcing programmes, the Judicial Integrity and Independence Programme (JIIP), the Legal Access Programme (LAP) and the Legal Resources Programme (LRP), all of A2Justice work addresses critical problems in justice administration and human rights, serve important public needs and target important achievements in democratic reform. Access to Justice is a recipient of the 2009 MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions and also the recipient of the first-ever Nigerian Bar Association Gani Fawehinmi Award (2010) for the defence of human rights and social justice

Access to Justice welcomes public participation in, and support for its work. To find ways of getting involved, please write to The Executive Director, at the address or email below. Access to Justice 9E Badagry Road, Off Marine Road, P.O. Box 1868, Apapa, Lagos, . Phone: +234 1 4546877 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.accesstojustice-ng.org IBSN: 978-067-724-0 Copyright (c) Access to Justice (2016)

ii Acknowledgment

Access to Justice is grateful to the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) for its support towards the publication of this Journal.

iii iv Table of Contents

About Access to Justice ii Acknowledgment iii

Editorial 1

Take No Prisoners: EFCC Lifts the Lid on Judicial Corruption 3

The EFCC and Hon. Justice Mohammed Yunusa Who is Justice Mohammed Yunusa? Who is Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya?

The Corruption Allegations of the EFCC against Justice Nganjiwa

Other Developments 10

Inundated with a Barrage of Petitions, Will the NJC Give

Hon. Justice Innocent Umezulike Chief Judge of Enugu

State the Boot? NJC Wields the Big Stick on Justice Lambo Akanbi; Now He's Out

NJC Places Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on a “Watch List”

Access to Justice launches Report on the Code of Conduct Tribunal 15

v Editorial

Corruption Allegations and Due Process for Judges: The War against Corruption should know no sacred cows

A rejuvenated Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has charged two prominent lawyers to court for bribing or corrupting judges. The judges were not charged along! The EFCC's dilemma is not an easy one: if bribery is a crime that involves the giver and taker, why is the pursuit only after alleged givers alone and not the alleged takers?

We understand how cautiously the EFCC wants to proceed in this context. While the named judges have not been charged for any offences the sensationalized media coverage of the allegations could as well have done as much damage to them as if they were actually brought to trial. The EFCC has, as is reported, made complaints against one of the Judges to the National Judicial Council (NJC), and if the Commission's complaints are substantiated, the most the NJC can do is to recommend the removal of the Judge from office. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo It may well be that this is the phase the EFCC abides time for, before taking any further steps against the implicated judges, that is, if it has any appetite for prosecuting Judges for corruption. In truth, the Commission has shown a longstanding reluctance to bring corrupt judges to trial but this is not limited to the EFCC. A precedent was nearly set a couple of years ago, when the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) tried to arraign a past Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State Justice Effiong Idiong after the NJC failed to take disciplinary action against him for allegedly facilitating the corruption of Akwa Ibom Election Petition Judges who were subsequently dismissed from office. That effort drew blank as the Chief Judge obtained a court injunction against his prosecution.

On their part, Judges have come to acknowledge that they are, somehow, sacred cows in this respect, and, for some, this awareness may be bearing on the calculus of whether to risk bad behaviour. There is no denying the fact, however, that corruption amongst lawyers and judges or between them is a growing threat to the broader fight against corruption and needs to be addressed urgently too. The judiciary has often been accused of obstructing the war against corruption, particularly with respect to inhibiting the progress of prosecutions against those accused of corruption and delaying or frustrating the outcomes of those trials.

Allegations that lawyers are hand in gloves with judges and cutting illicit deals to miscarry justice will foster the impression that this is, after all, the real albatross, the elephant in the room that is

1 bedevilling our fight against graft, a claim the judiciary and its advocates have for long resisted. But everyone seems to agree that we need to clear the deck of every stumbling block in order to fight the monster of corruption. Recently, President Buhari said the judiciary was his major headache in the war against corruption; tough as that statement was to digest for the legal profession, it was actually a mild assertion given what others have hitherto said. President Olusegun Obasanjo did not mince words when he said to Judges, in 2012 during his presidency:

“…the judiciary has been riddled by corruption, which has affected other sectors of the country. And if the judiciary becomes corrupt, where is the hope for the nation? Justice has become the highest bidder takes all. That is what we have now.”

There may be a lot that may be said for exercising the utmost restraint when considering prosecutions against judges for corruption because so much is at stake. The lives and careers of those judges may be completely and, probably unfairly upended or damaged if they are found not guilty of allegations against them and it is not likely that they can continue to function as judges after ordeals like that. Furthermore, there is also a public interest consideration: since it is not likely they would be able to continue judicial duties whilst being prosecuted, there will be questions as to what to do with the cases in their courts. Etc etc.

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately about how to deal with corruption in the Judiciary. It seems clear to us that, difficult as it may be, unless we begin to apply the same law, and “ration justice” for corruption in a fairer, equal way, we cannot make much progress with defeating the monster. As the late American Jurist Learned Hand once said, “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice”. This applies here too.

No judge, as far as we know, has been prosecuted for corruption. Not because there have been no established cases of corruption against them; not because of the lack of evidence; not because of any immunity inherent in the office of a judge against crimes of corruption. It's only because we have not raised our game to that level.

No matter how novel the idea may sound, we must now pluck up courage to plow through new approaches that can help remove the obstacles in the way of stamping out corruption. Where there are credible and investigated allegations against Judges, (and there is need to ensure that the suspicions reach the thresholds where a decision to go to trial would be a thoroughly responsible one), anti-corruption agencies should apply the law equally to Judges, offering them the due process that they deserve. This can be done with or without the “endorsement” of the NJC. Happily this is consistent with what the new Attorney General Abubakar Malami, (SAN) has said he wants to do. In the war against corruption, there ought to be no sacred cows!

2 TAKE NO PRISONERS: EFCC LIFTS THE LID ON JUDICIAL CORRUPTION

hat started out as a relatively minor face-off between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a prominent lawyer, Ricky Tarfa (SAN) is snowballing into a catastrophe for some lawyers and Judges in Nigeria. Heads may roll, it appears, if Wwhat has gone public like a wildfire is substantiated down the line as true.

It all started from an unlikely event: a senior pr ominent lawyer had given refuge to his client, a Beninnoise businessman, Granhoue Sourou Nazaire standing trial for forgery and fraud, in his car in order to avoid further EFCC re-arrest. Ricky Tarfa (SAN) is defending several persons accused by the EFCC of corruption. The EFCC is irritated that corruption trials are dragging interminably in the courts and has even lost some of the few cases that have finally been determined. Both parties understand the strategies of the other. The EFCC will use strong arm tactics to arrest, re-arrest and re-arrest again if need be where the court has granted bail to a person the agency does not want to be released. Ibrahim Magu, EFCC Chairman With a new government and a new EFCC Chair, the Commission wants to overhaul its perception and fire on all cylinders to show that it is no longer business as usual. Ricky Tarfa (SAN) thought he could out- manoeuvre the prowling EFCC officers and shield his clients from their reach. This was precisely a red flag to a bull as far as the agency's reaction would go. When the EFCC discovered this, the agency immediately arrested Ricky Tarfa and placed him in detention. It took the efforts of the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association which had only recently paid a visit to the EFCC Chairman to cultivate relations with him to secure Tarfa's release after he had spent two days in EFCC detention. The EFCC has arraigned Ricky Tarfa to face charges for obstruction of justice and corruption of a Judge. The EFCC has alleged, in other extrajudicial statements that Tarfa was always in the habit of bribing judges across the country.

Tarfa Fights Back

Ricky Tarfa has sued the EFCC claiming damages for the violation of his rights to privacy, and to liberty.

This is where the drama gets some traction. The EFCC, responding to the claims, has alleged that Mr. Tarfa has always bribed judges. The Commission says that Mr. Tarfa had in January 2014 transferred a bribe of N225, 000 to Justice Yunusa, the same Judge before whom his clients were being tried; furthermore, the agency alleges that Mr. Tarfa had in

Ricky Tarfa, SAN 3 2006 collected $500,000 from one of his clients ostensibly to bribe “the court and EFCC officials.” Alongside this, the Commission claimed that Mr. Tarfa and four other SANs allegedly “donated” N7 million to launch a book written in honour of Justice Ibrahim Auta, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. The Commission alleges that there is regular verbal correspondence between Justice Yunusa and Ricky Tarfa when cases filed by Tarfa are pending in Yunusa's court and that Ricky Tarfa had always won those cases “on the basis of bribery and corruption”.

But the EFCC was not yet done: on the 2nd of March 2016, the Commission further claimed that there was a “network” of corruption that went beyond Ricky Tarfa and Hon. Justice Yunusa, and that: “... through the above network collaboration, the Applicant between 27th June, 2012 and 23rd December 2014 paid the total sum of N5,335,000.00 (Five Million Three Hundred and Thirty Five Thousand Naira only) to Hon. Justice H. A. Nganjiwa's personal account number domiciled in Fidelity Bank Plc, out of which the said Hon. Justice H. A. Nganjiwa transferred the sum of N1,600,000.00 to Hon. Justice Mohammed Nasiru Yunusa's personal account No. 1005055617 domiciled with UBA Plc. A copy of the UBA personal account detail no. 1005055617 of Hon. Justice M.N.Yunusa is shown to me and marked 'RT 3'.”

The EFCC further said that Hon. Justice H. A. Nganjiwa also sent his company bank details of AWA AJIA NIG. LTD with Account No. 0000971931 domiciled with Access Bank Plc to Mr. Ricky Tarfa.

In a charge that was preferred against Tarfa subsequently, the EFCC alleged: “That you Rickey Tarfa SAN on the 29th day of January 2014 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable court intentionally gave the sum of N1, 500,000.00 to Hon. Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya of the Federal High Court directly from your Zenith Bank Account No. 1002926967 in order that the said judge acts in the exercise of his official duties.” Joseph Nwobike, SAN

Another count accuses Tarfa of intentionally giving the “... sum of N500,000.00 to Hon. Mohammed Nasir Yunusa of the Federal High Court indirectly through Awa Ajia Nigeria Limited's account No. 0000971941 domiciled in Access Bank Plc belonging to Hon. Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya in order that Hon. Mohammed Nasir Yunusa refrains from acting in the exercise of his official duties.”

Part of this “chain of fraud” the EFCC said, included other lawyers. One of them, the EFCC alleges is Joseph Nwobike SAN another prominent lawyer, who, the Commission claimed, also admitted “in his statement to the EFCC that he gave N750,000 to Justice Yunusa to assist the Judge in the treatment of his ailing mother who is alleged to be suffering from kidney disease.”

The EFCC has now filed charges against Joseph Nwobike. Part of the criminal indictment against him reads that:

4 “You Dr Joseph Nwobike (SAN) on the 28th day of March 2015 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, intentionally gave the sum of N750,000 to Honourable Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa of the Federal High Court directly through your United Bank for Africa Account ... in order that the said Judge refrains from acting in the exercise of his official duties and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 64 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No. 11 of 2011”

The EFCC and Hon. Justice Mohammed Yunusa

For the EFCC, any opportunity to take down Justice Mohammed Yunusa would clearly not be frittered away: in fact, rather, it would be just what the doctor ordered. The Commission had been looking for a time like this, waiting patiently for it, and probably doing a bit of homework to prepare for it. For only a little while back, the Commission had shown it was totally exasperated with Justice M. Yunusa, and would no longer want its cases tried before the Judge. In fact, in September 2015, the Commission had approached the Federal High Court, Lagos for an order disqualifying Justice M. N. Yunusa from f u r t h e r a d j u d i c a t i n g o v e r t h e Commission's cases pending before his court on grounds of "bias and denial of fair hearing" by Justice Yunusa.

he EFCC cited one of its cases before Justice Yunusa (Jyde TAdelakun and Touch of Flame Energy Company Limited vs. Chairman, EFCC and Ibelema Bristol) where it applied to consolidate two cases (Suit Number FHC/L/CS/1285/2015 and Suit Number FHC/L/CS/1165/2015) but said Justice Yunusa ignored the application. Furthermore, the Commission claimed that a pending Court Order freezing the bank accounts of Adelakun and Touch of Flame Energy Company Limited (under investigation for money laundering involving over $2,000,000.00 was communicated to Justice Yunusa), accompanied by an application for a short adjournment to enable the EFCC file an affidavit to exhibit the Order. Justice Yunusa reportedly turned down the

5 application and even refused an oral application to this effect, and proceeded to fix September 23rd, 2015 for judgment.

Following these actions, the EFCC believes "it will not get justice except the case is re-assigned to another judge". That is not all. The EFCC was also dismayed by another order of Interim Injunction granted by Justice Yunusa, restraining it from "arresting, detaining, harassing, intimidating, preventing, refusing, interfering with and/or denying" one of its suspects, Dr. Martins Oluwafemi Thomas being investigated for ownership and movement of the sum of $2,200,000.00( Two Million Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). The injunction came shortly after Justice Yunusa gave a similar order barring the EFCC from investigating allegations of corruption levelled against a former Aviation Minister, .

Who is Justice Mohammed Yunusa? Born 1963, Justice Yunusa, from Yobe State, attended the University of Maiduguri and the Nigerian Law School. He was sworn in as a Judge on 22nd of June 2009 and has until recently, served in the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court and his among the notable cases that Justice Yunusa presided over and the orders he gave are:

EFCC v. and Ors: involving former Enugu State Governor who was arraigned before Hon. Justice Yunusa by the EFCC alongside seven others, on a 105 count of Conspiracy, Forgery and Money Laundering. On 7th July 2015, Hon. Justice Yunusa ordered Chimaroke Nnamani to forfeit four of his companies and their assets to the federal government after the companies, also co-accused with Chimaroke Nnamani, pleaded guilty to the charges against them. The assets were valued at over five billion Naira.

Oduah v. EFCC, and Ors: On August 26, 2015, during the court's vacation, Justice Yunusa, as vacation judge issued an order of interim injunction, restraining the EFCC and the ICPC from arresting and detaining the applicant, former Aviation Minister and who was the subject of a corruption inquiry from taking any action pending the final determination of the suit filed by the applicant.

Also, in November 2015, Justice M. Yunusa ordered the re-opening of a bank account containing N58,500,000 frozen by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) (purportedly with the consent of the Attorney General of the Federation through the Solicitor General) in accordance with the NDLEA Act. The NDLEA claimed the account had monies traced to illicit narcotics trade involving an alleged drug kingpin, Chukwunwendu Sylvester Ikejiakwu. In ruling on a fundamental right application against the NDLEA, Justice Yunusa ordered the re-opening of the account on the ground that there was no Attorney General at the time.

6 Corruption Allegations by the EFCC The EFCC has claimed that Justice Yunusa has been in frequent communication with Ricky Tarfa whilst cases involving the lawyer were pending in his court. According to the Commission:

“Based on intelligence report available to the Commission that the Applicant in a desperate bid to pervert the cause of justice in earlier proceedings involving the suspects on the subject matter was using his GSM ….. to communicate with Honourable Justice M. N. Yunusa in a case before His Lordship, the 1st Respondent requested the Applicant upon his arrest to respond to the allegation and surrender his mobile Apple I-Phone 6, colour black with MTN No. …..,”

Besides allegedly being in regular communication with Ricky Tarfa, the EFCC alleges that Ricky Tarfa was also bribing the Judge. In its indictment against Tarfa, the EFCC's affidavit stated that: “I know from facts revealed during investigation that the said bribe of N225, 000.00 Two Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Naira) was accepted and acknowledged by Justice Yunusa in a text message to the Applicant wherein he said, “Thank you my senior advocate”. ”I also know that investigations has revealed that the applicant's law firm was in the habit of asking the Chief Registrar of the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court to assign his cases before His Lordship Honourable M. N. Yunusa in furtherance of the understanding between the Applicant and the particular judge. ”I also know that investigations has revealed that even the junior counsel in the law firm of the applicant also engaged in the corrupt practices of their boss by manipulating the Federal High Court Registry to fix and assign cases filed by them to particular judges. Attached and marked Exhibit 'P' herewith are text messages on the assignment of the applicant's firm's cases to Justice Yunusa's court.”

Justice Yunusa has not publicly reacted to these allegations, even though the EFCC has further alleged that Ricky Tarfa has passed on bribes to Justice Yunusa through the accounts of Justice Nganjiwa Ajiya.

Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya

Borno State born Justice Nganjiwa Ajiya was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, and appointed a Judge of the Federal High Court on the 28th of May 2012. He began his career at Ajaokuta Steel Company, Kwara State and later moved over to the Ministry of Justice, Kwara State. He later joined the Adamawa Ministry of Justice, from where he rose to the position of Principal State Counsel, and from where he joined the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. He moved from there to start his firm, under the name of H.A. Njangiwa and Co. This is where his records show that he was from 1996 to 2012 before he was appointed a Judge of the Federal High Court in 2012. The importance of this history would be clearer presently. Hon. Justice Njangiwa presently sits in the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court.

7 Among the notable cases that Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya has presided over and the orders he has given are:

People's Democratic Party v. Governor of Rivers State: On April 30 2015, Justice A. Nganjiwa, sitting in Port Harcourt in a suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) restrained, by an order, the Rivers State Governor at that time, Rotimi Amaechi “from taking further steps in connection with the sitting of the Commission of Inquiry instituted by the 10th Respondent (Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi), pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction”. Ejike Ogbuebego v. Ken Emeakayi: In September 2013, Justice Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa sitting in Port Harcourt, ordered the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Independent Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya Electoral Commission, INEC, to recognise Senator Andy Uba as the party's flag bearer for the November 16 governorship election in , pending the determination of the substantive suit. The court also recognized the Ejike Ogbuebego-led PDP executive in Anambra State as the valid PDP “faction” that had the power to nominate Andy Uba as governorship candidate. Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, gave the order while ruling on a motion by a factional chairman of the PDP in Anambra, Ogbuebego.

The Corruption Allegations of the EFCC against Justice Nganjiwa

The EFCC has alleged that Justice Nganjiwa corruptly received monies from Ricky Tarfa (SAN) and Joseph Nwobike (SAN) and was, in fact, additionally, the conduit for the passage of bribes to Hon. Justice Yunusa.

Justice Nganjiwa Ajiya has not publicly reacted to these allegations, but Ricky Tarfa has in a Statement put out by his law firm, Tarfa claimed that prior to Justice Nganjiwa's Ajiya's appointment to the Bench in 2012, he [Justice Nganjiwa] was absorbed into his [Ricky Tarfa's] firm in 1995 immediately after leaving the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) where he rose to the position of Deputy Director (Prosecution)”. Ricky Tarfa said after Justice Nganjiwa's appointment as a judge, “...the law firm continued with the cases he brought to the chambers” and that “In the light of the above, we have continued to discharge the firm's financial obligations to him in respect of cases he has handled for the firm as a practicing legal practitioner in our law firm and those he brought to the chambers”, the statement said.

It is not entirely clear what the statements mean in fact nor whether these statements would be endorsed by Justice Nganjiwa. Taken literarily, they could raise further ethical concerns about Justice Nganjiwa's continued relationship to Ricky Tarfa's law firm or his conduct as a Judge. As Justice Nganjiwa has been a Judge since 2012, what would payments to him as late as 2015 represent? What further relationships did he have with the firm where he was “absorbed” until

8 2012? Could the be legitimately made to him if they were “in respect of cases he has handled for the firm as a practicing legal practitioner ... and those he brought to the chambers”? Some further clarification will be needed to understand the context in which they payments made to Hon. Justice Njangiwa may be said to be legitimate. The explanation by Ricky Tarfa does little to assuage the concerns.

However, as the EFCC indictments against Ricky Tarfa and Joseph Nwobike show, there is some explaining to do by the Judges. Without charging them directly, the EFCC has unofficially accused them of corruption and the corruption trial of Ricky Tarfa and Joseph Nwobike is as well a trial, by proxy, of the Judges themselves.

9 OTHER DEVELOPMENTS The Case against Justice Innocent Umezulike: Inundated with a Barrage of Petitions, Will the NJC Finally Give Hon. Justice Innocent Umezulike Chief Judge of Enugu State the Boot? The Clouds appear to be gathering! Is time ticking for Chief Judge of Enugu State, Hon. Justice Innocent Umezulike? Will he survive the onslaught this time? It is not often that the Attorney General of a Country will bring allegations of corruption and abuse of office against a Chief Judge. But it did happen this time around. Against someone too, who is a familiar figure within the National Judicial Council.

In February 2016, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN), wrote to the NJC asking the Council to investigate Hon. Justice Umezulike for Enugu State Chief Judge, misconduct, bordering on gross abuse of office, forgery and Justice Innocent Umezulike corruption.

The minister in a letter with Ref No: HAGF/ENUGU/2000/I dated February 4, 2016, also directed the Inspector General of Police to investigate the conduct of Justice Umezulike and Mr. Vincent Aneke, the Director of Litigation at the Enugu State High Court over allegations that they both conspired together to alter a court judgment and order in Suit No. E/170/76 dated June 25, 1985. The AG's action was predicated upon representations made by one Peter Eze, an Enugu- based lawyer who has made serious allegations of criminal and unethical conduct against Justice Umezulike. The facts, according to the lawyer are:

“On June 25, 1985, Justice P. K. Nwokedi, the Chief Judge of Anambra State (who later became a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria) delivered a judgment in Suit No. E/170/76: Nnaji & Ors. v. Nwugwu Ors. The judgment awarded the plaintiffs, the Umunneshi Family of Umunaji Ngene, Amechi Uwani, title to a parcel of land known as and called 'Agbirigba Umu-Nensi'.

“Surprisingly, sometime in 2009, Aneke and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Umezulike, forged a judgment order in the said suit, in which Justice Umezulike and Aneke claimed that Justice Umezulike heard the said suit in 1985 and delivered judgment in the suit. No mention is made in the said judgment order, that the suit was heard by Hon. Justice P. K. Nwokedi. The said judgment order

10 he petition against Justice Umezulike read further: “It will interest you to note that Justice Umezulike was called to the Nigerian TBar in 1980 and was only elevated to the Bench in 1993 when he was appointed a judge of the High Court of Enugu State. At the time he was said to have signed the said judgment order in 2009, Justice Umezulike knew that he was not the judge who heard the case, and that he was not a High Court Judge in 1985, and certainly was never a High Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Court Judge in Anambra State. Chair, National Judicial Council

“Similarly, Aneke was only called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002 after reading evening law, and was not a lawyer in 1985. He was also not the Director Litigation and Courts Division, in the High Court of Anambra State in 1985.

“The purpose of Justice Umezulike and Aneke forging and uttering the said judgment order, was for the Judgment Order to be used by the Plaintiffs in Suit No. E/170/76 Nnaji & Ors. v. Nwugwu & Ors to levy execution pursuant to the judgment and hand over possession of the said Agbirigba Umu- Nensi land to the plaintiff.

“Permit me to point out that both Justice Umezulike and Aneke, knew that under the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act and the Judgment Enforcement Rules of Enugu State the fraudulent and criminal enterprise they had embarked upon was illegal. Thus (1) at the time application was made to enforce the judgment on 5/2/2009, the original parties to the suit were dead and contrary to Order V Rule 2, the dead plaintiffs were not substituted.”

The Attorney General has asked the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate Aneke for corruption and abuse of office.

That is not all. Peter Eze has written to the NJC too, alleging that Chief Judge Umezulike has been guilty of Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, (SAN) serious misconduct. According to his petition, Justice Umezulike has, for over many years now, victimized him for drawing the NJC's attention to his [Justice Umezurik's] many infractions and misdeeds. His various accusations against Justice Umezulike include: That Justice Umezulike, at the launch of a book he authored, invited knowingly invited a party to two suits pending in his [Justice Umezulike's] court Prince Arthur Eze to both the book launch as well as named as the Special Guest of Honour. Prince Arthur Eze made a donation of N10,000,000 at

1Suit No E/388/2010 Prince Arthur Eze v Diamond Bank PLc. Suit No E/147/2012 Prince Arthur Eze v Major Concepts Limited & AnorEE 11 the launch which the Chief Judge accepted. According to Peter Eze, Justice Umezulike also accepted a donation of two million Naira from Deputy Senate President Senator

1. This act, he said, of accepting donations from members of the public for his book as a serving judge amounted to exploiting his position and also has grave consequences on judicial impartiality.

2. The chief Judge also failed to promptly sign court processes which occasioned miscarriage of justice in several cases but signed processes issued at the instance of Prince Arthur Eze speedily.

3. That Justice Umezulike refused to comply and enforce NJC directives requesting him to transfer cases involving Peter Eze being heard in his court to other Judges

4. Victimization and abuse of power in making illegitimate orders for the arrest of Peter Eze by the Police

The NJC has reportedly given Justice Umezulike two weeks to respond to the allegations against him.

This is not the first time aggrieved persons are taking Hon. Justice Umezulike to the NJC. A few others have done so in the past. Justice Umezulike was appointed in controversial circumstances by the Chimaroke Nnamani government even when he was not the “most senior” Judge in the Enugu State Judiciary. Governor Nnamani successfully manoeuvred the NJC to appoint Justice Umezulike over Justice Raphael Agbo, even in spite of allegations against Justice Umezulike then, on the ground that the Governor Preferred someone the State could work with.

NJC Wields the Big Stick on Justice Lambo Akanbi; Now He's Out! The NJC has recommended the compulsory retirement of Hon. Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, and President Muhammadu Buhari has approved and effected it. The NJC took the decision after it found Justice Lambo Akanbi guilty of misconduct at its 74th meeting.

Shell Petroleum had written a petition agianst Justice Akanbi, citing several allegations of misconduct. The allegations

Justice Lambo Akanbi included the unilateral appointment of one Mr Emeka Nkwo

12 as a referee and valuer in about three suits notwithstanding that none of the parties to the suit had proposed the said valuer. Additionally, Justice Akanbi was said to have heard and concluded a case without dealing with a notice of preliminary objection on the jurisdiction of his court. The retired justice also sat on a case in the Federal High Court Yenagoa without the directive of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court who had already transferred a new judge to the state.

The allegations also included: * Delivering the ruling in Suit No FHC/PH/CS/07/2009 four months after final addresses were taken without any cogent reason, contrary to the constitutional provisions that judgment should be delivered within a period of 90 days;

* Dismissing the application to set aside the report prepared by the valuer, CYN JAC (NIG) LTD, and later changing the ruling to judgment, which prevented the respondent from pursuing the application for stay of proceedings at the Court of Appeal and failing to give a copy of his ruling, delivered on 12th June 2013, to the complainant until 28th June 2013.

It would be recalled that it was Justice Akanbi who gave a controversial ruling in 2014 overruling the decision of the NJC to recommend Justice Daisy Okocha as the next Chief Judge of Rivers State.

And then Places Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on a “Watch List” Probably the first time this is happening... The NJC has placed Hon. Justice Rita Ofili Ajumogobia, Judge of the Federal High Court on a “watch list”, and barred her, permanently from being considered for elevation to a higher court or any Ad-hoc judicial appointment until she retires from the Bench. The NJC took the decision in February 2016. The sanctions against Justice Ofili Ajumogobia followed from a petition against her by one Victoria Ayeni alleging misconduct and injustice by Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia for failing to deliver judgment in a pre-election suit between Victoria A. A. Ayeni and Olusola Sonuga and 2 Ors. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia

The petitioner, Ms. A. Ayeni had alleged that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia deliberately adjourned the suit several times until the termination of the life span of the Ogun State House of Assembly.

Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia, it would be recalled discharged and acquitted Chief Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister of all the corruption charges against him. She ruled that the prosecution's case against him was “feeble”. It looks like Ms. A. Ayeni's case against Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia was not so “feeble”. Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia is expected to retire from the Bench in 2024.

13 Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia has, prior to this time, been widely known by those who frequent her court, for her enigmatic character and oftentimes outlandish verbal outbursts and irritable behaviour. She was once the subject of a petition by the father of her court staff, alleging that she physically and publicly molested the staff by pulling his ears with her fingernails which resulted in the bleeding of the staff.

A week after the NJC's decision Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia was transferred to the to Ilorin Division of the Federal High Court

14 Access to Justice launches Report on the Code of Conduct Tribunal

On the 17th of February, Access to Justice launched its report: The bump on a Log: Why the Code of Conduct Tribunal Malfunctions and how it can be Reformed. The report explores the operations and performance of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and why the Code of Conduct is failing as an anti-corruption institution; it looks at its porous legal and operational framework, its imperious, overtly-politicized leadership and internal governance failures, and examines the public image challenges of the tribunal. The report surmises that:

“in spite of its (Code of Conduct Tribunal) extraordinary powers and strategic importance to the fight against corruption, the Tribunal has largely been a toothless bulldog that has hardly barked at corruption, or, probably, even blinked at it. Since its establishment in 1989, the Tribunal has had a well-documented history of poor performance, there is very little the Tribunal has accomplished or can show for in terms of its mandate. In value terms, the Tribunal has added little or nothing of significance to the fight against corruption. Instead, it has continued to get fiscal appropriations each year for literarily failing to deliver on its mandate...”

The report identifies several reasons why the Tribunal is malfunctioning. Among them are:

1. Its flawed enabling legal framework: The Constitution and Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act do not make adequate provisions on how the Tribunal should be administered and fail to define and demarcate powers and responsibilities within the Tribunal

2. Lack of Independence, Effective Oversight and Accountability: The Tribunal lacks institutional independence, and functions under the presidency. There is no effective oversight body, mechanism or system in place to monitor how its constitutionally allocated powers are exercised.

3. Arbitrary (Mis)appropriation of Powers by the Chairman of the Tribunal: Too much of the powers that ought to be exercised by the governing board of the tribunal has been misappropriated by the Chairman to himself.

4. Danladi Umar, the Chairman of the Tribunal, who is too scathed by allegations of abuse of office and corruption to continue in office. Mr. Danladi Umar has run the organisation like a personal fiefdom - a

15 place where he is the dictator-in-charge such that those who do not grovel to him or who try to warn him off his transgressions enter his black book and are vilified and targeted afterwards.

To fix these flaws, the Report recommends a number of legislative and constitutional reforms:. these include reforms

* to establish the Tribunal as a judicial body under the Judicial branch of government under the supervision of judicial bodies like the National Judicial Council or the Federal Judicial Service Commission;

* to more clearly demarcate and allocate powers between the members of the Board of the Tribunal (i.e. the Chairman and two members);

* remove limitations in the jurisdiction of the Tribunal so that the Tribunal can adjudicate over cases brought by other anti-corruption agencies against public officers and not just from the Code of Conduct Bureau (i.e. the Tribunal should not be tied to the apron strings of the Code of Conduct Bureau.

* The report further recommends that Danladi Umar, Chairman of the Tribunal should vacate office given that the allegations against him have brought public ridicule and embarrassment to the Tribunal which has done incalculable harm to the image of the Tribunal and the Judiciary in Nigeria.

In conclusion, the report says that the Code of Conduct Tribunal has been, so far, a light hidden under the bushel noting that this is an opportune moment for President Buhari's administration to take far-reaching action to loosen the shackles on the Tribunal, transform it fundamentally and rebuild public trust in its ability to fight corruption. To download a copy of this report, go to http://www.accesstojustice-ng.org/Bump%20on%20a%20Log.pdf

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