The media recently reported that a non-government organisation (NGO),  Campaign for  Judicial Integrity, has written a petition to the National  Judicial Council  (NJC) over an order by Justice Anuli Chikere of the Federal  High Court over the  impending election of the person to represent the Anambra  Central zone in the  Senate. An election was scheduled to hold on March 5, 2016,  to fill the post which  became vacant following the Court of Appeal’s judgment of  December 7, 2015,  removing Mrs Uche Lilian Ekwunife from the Senate because  she did not  participate in the primaries leading to the nomination of a  candidate  representing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the  March, 2015, general  election. The lady, capitalizing on her closeness to former  First Lady Patience  Jonathan, had got State House to instruct Prince Arthur Eze,  a controversial  government contractor, to send her name to the party  headquarters as the PDP  candidate for the election. This action was contrary to the  Electoral Law.  Therefore, the Court of Appeal removed her from the Senate  following an action  by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate,  Chief Victor Umeh.
As the  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was set to conduct the  election on March 5, 2016, having issued the public notice  to that effect on  February 1, 2016, Justice Chikere ruled that the PDP must be included in the  election. Since it was too late to include a fresh candidate  in the election,  INEC postponed the vote indefinitely. Meanwhile, INEC  announced it would head  for the Court of Appeal to set aside the Chikere judgment  which it considered  very strange because it is unprecedented in our history that  a party which does  not have  a candidate any more should be  included in a rerun election. Both the Court of Appeal and  the Supreme Court  have ruled in various instances that a fresh candidate  cannot participate in a  rerun election unless the original candidate of the  political party which he or she represents is dead. In the case of the PDP candidate in  the Anambra Central  senatorial election in the 2015 general election, Mrs  Ekwunife, she did not  die. But she has resigned from the party and joined the All  Peoples Congress  (APC). Against this background, it came to no-one as a  surprise that the  Campaign for Judicial integrity, based in Lekki Peninsula,  Lagos State, has  written to the NJC to investigate the ruling. It does not  look like an ordinary  judicial faux pas.
Indeed, these  must be the most trying times for the noble Nigerian legal  profession. To  paraphrase Nigeria’s first president, The Right Honourable  Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, PC,  GCFR, these are times that try men’s souls. Whether in beer parlours, in the mass media or among lawyers or retired judges, stories of  pervasive corruption by  serving judges are rampant. For the first time in  Nigeria’s history, senior  lawyers, including Ricky Tarfa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria  (SAN), are being  tried in the court for allegedly bribing judges. President  Muhammadu Buhari  says the greatest obstacle to his fight against corruption  is the judiciary. It  is doubtful any Nigerian could contest the  statement.
In recent  times, a month has hardly passed without the National  Judicial Council (NJC)  recommending disciplinary actions against some judicial  officers. Fr example, last March, it placed  Justice  Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia on watch list, apart from banning her  from elevation to  the higher bench for misconduct. The judge, who last year  freed former Aviation  Minister Femi Fani-Kayode of all the grave charges of  corruption against him,  refused to give judgment in a pre-election matter before her  until the tenure  of the office which Victor Ayeni of Ogun State sought had  elapsed. The  following month, the NJC recommended to the Lagos State  governor to retire  immediately Mr Justice O. Gbajabiamila from the state  judiciary for  professional misconduct. Justice Gbajabiamila had refused to  give judgment in a  case until December 34, 2013, that is, a whole 35 months  after written  addresses were taken and 22 months after evidence was  closed. To exacerbate  matters, a copy of the judgment was not available until 40  days after the  judgment was delivered, contrary to the law which stipulates  seven days.
Just a few  days ago, the NJC recommended to the Cross River State  governor to quickly  separate Justice Bassey T. Ebutu from the state judiciary in  public interest.  He was found guilty of abuse of office, misconduct and  confiscation of  property. He was investigated following a petition by one Dr  Cobham of Calabar.
One thing  which has come out crystal clear from the various  investigations into the rot  in the judiciary is that women are not left out of the mess.  Mention has  already been made of Justice Ofili-Ajumobia who is now on  the NJC watch list.  But there is a more serious case of corruption which is  being investigated. It  involves Justice Uwani Abba-Aji whom SaharaReporters,  quoting sources in the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) sources on  Monday, April 25,  2016, reported as collecting N8million from the  controversial SAN, Ricky Tarfa.  Another female judge has been reported to have one billion  naira in cash in her  bank accounts, plus several eye popping properties scattered  in expensive  cities with high property values.
The petition  against Justice Chikere adds to the public concern about the  integrity of our  female judicial officers at a time there is a sustained  clamour across the  country for the appointment and election of women into high  public office.  Every lawyer I know is surprised that Justice Chikere should  give an order for  the inclusion of a fresh candidate in a rerun election when  the original  candidate is still alive but has only left the party. It is  trite law that this  is not possible. When the Labour Party in Adamawa State  sought in 2007 to  change its gubernatorial candidate in a rerun election, the  Court of Appeal  ruled against it, noting that even in the event of a fresh  election a political  party could change its candidate only within 60 days to the  vote. In the famous  case of Tunde Isiaq and Okanlowon Soniyi, also in 2007, the  Supreme Court  declared pointedly that only candidates who took part in the  earlier election  could participate in the rerun election except in case of  the death of an  original candidate. This is why the APC could present a  fresh candidate to  contest last year in the Kogi State governorship election  when its flag-bearer,  Alhaji Abubakar Audu, died. But, as one has said earlier,  the PDP candidate in  the Anambra Central senatorial election, Mrs Ekwunife, is  still alive.
The time has  really come for security agencies to investigate why some  judicial officers  give judgments which bring the Bench into opprobrium. No one  seems to believe  that the order by Justice Chikere was an innocent mistake.  It is not enough to  punish erring judges. Those who caused them to misbehave  should be punished,  too.
Written by Rosemary-Augustine Mogekwu, LL.M
