Age falsification and bribery: A tale of two judges

AT the end of one of its periodical meetings on July 17 and 18, the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended, among other things, that the Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Shadrack O. E. Nwanosike, should proceed on compulsory retirement over his alleged complicity in age falsification. This piece of news incidentally broke out on the same date (Monday, 29th July, 2013) that it was reported that Justice Joseph Wowo, a Nigerian Judge on secondment to the Gambian Judiciary, was relieved of his position for demanding a bribe of about N12.5 million from a litigant in The Gambia in order to pervert  justice.

 The act of these two judges is a blot on the escutcheon and manifests how deep-rooted corruption has become ingrained in the Nigerian judiciary vis-à-vis the Nigerian society. Falsification of age is one of the most rampant misdemeanours committed in the civil or public service in Nigeria. It has even taken root in our football sector such that we have age-cheats in all competitions where age has become a factor in the choice of participants. Civil servants in ministries swear to affidavits regularly to reduce their ages in order to prolong their stay in their positions and stave off retirements. This act of consistent and persistent lying under oath has made the offence of perjury as ridiculous as the offence of bigamy in Nigeria.

Notwithstanding the rampancy of this infamous conduct of age falsification, one would have thought that a judge, like Caesar’s wife, will be above board in that respect. Perhaps, Justice Shadrack might have forgotten the eminent place of a judge in a society. A judge is firstly a lawyer. Charles Philips, a British academician had described the prime position of the law profession thus:
 “Of all that God empowered man to achieve as an academic discipline and pursuit on this planet earth, none has a heavenlier aspect than the law profession: that at abroad it is an introduction, in the society an ornament, in solace a comforter; without it what is a man”
Besides being a lawyer, Justice Shadrack, as a judge, has the key of santus sanctorium of justice. He has the power of life and death. He is a mirror to the society. His calling is far more beyond that of mere mortals. A judge operates on a code and his life is regulated by a code of conduct as follows:
Rule 1: Avoidance of impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all the activities of a judicial officer.

Rule 2: Administrative and adjudicative duties of a judicial officer.
Rule 3: Guidelines that regulate the extra-judicial activities of a judicial officer in order to minimize the risk of conflict with the duties of his office.
It is evident that Justice Shadrack falsified his age so as to remain in office to exercise more power and make more money to the detriment of the State, litigants, and citizens of Abia State! This is corruption simplicita and it is one of the forms of corruption that section 15 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) has enjoined the Nigerian State to eradicate or abolish.

 On the other hand, Justice Joseph Wowo, the Nigerian judge serving in Gambia, seems to have exported our culture of bribery to Gambia by demanding a whopping sum of N12.5 million from a litigant. This act of Justice Joseph is infra dignitatem (below his dignity) to say the least. If only this judge had remembered the lesson in “The Incorruptible Judge”, he might have behaved differently and saved Nigeria this opprobrium. Justice Wowo forgot that he was not only a judge but an “ambassador” of Nigeria in The Gambia, a country with a population of about 1.776 million. Justice Wowo could have taken a cue from the incorruptibility of many Nigerian jurists who have served meritoriously in The Gambia such as the Late Justice Akinola Aguda and Justice Moronkeji Onalaja. If these ones had desecrated the temple of justice in The Gambia, the door opened for the accommodation of more Nigerian jurists in that country’s judiciary would have been closed long ago. The resultant sack of Justice Joseph Wowo is, therefore, a welcome (although a sad) development.
 The reprehensible act of Justices Shadrack and Joseph confirms the Biblical handwriting on the wall: mene mene tekel uphasin (meaning that they have been weighed and found wanting). The conduct of these two judges will increase the pressure on the judiciary to engage in further saponification of the hallowed temple of justice in order to smoke out its black legs. To enthrone sanity, this writer recommends that the Nigerian Judiciary should open a Black Book where names of the likes of Justice Shadrack and Justice Joseph would be written for posterity to note.

 In my humble opinion, I consider the punishment meted out to the two judges as insufficient and non-deterrent. The appropriate authorities should proceed to deny them the use of the word “Justice” against their names; also, the two judges should be charged to court for the various offences they have been alleged to have committed. If convicted, they should be sentenced to terms of imprisonment in accordance with the legal maxim of fiat justitia, ruat coelum (meaning let justice be done though the heavens may fall). The current “punishment” of merely relieving them of their positions is a slap on the wrist and unacceptable. Time has come to end impunity of corrupt judges.

Source: Guardian

Re: Top PHCN official in ICPC net

IT really pained me to hear that a principal manager of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Abuja Distribution Company, Wuse Zone 4, could demand for a sum of N100, 000 as a bribe before he could perform his constitutional duty to install transformers for his customers. If he knew that the action would backfire on him, he wouldn’t have demanded for the bribe. If this is the case, then all other PHCN officials should be very careful and desist from soliciting for money from their customers for the installation of transformers.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) will continue to expose the faces of some corrupt PHCN officials. It should be noted that some of them usually demand for bribe before installing the new prepaid meter for customers. It is, therefore, so unfortunate that a whole manager could be part of this corrupt practice. Most people don’t care about their reputation when it comes to money. This act of indecency has caused the manager great humiliation and pain amongst his colleagues and family members. He has soiled his hands just because of money. This is a big lesson to all bribe takers. Everybody must know that the ICPC and EFCC are on ground.

Therefore, we must shun corruption, and join hands in bringing about sanity to this nation. Bribery and corruption should be stopped.

Jimoh  Mumin,
Ibadan.     

‘Ineffectual’ Justice System Is Responsible For Corruption In Nigeria- Akaraiwe

A former vice president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Mr. IKeazo Akaraiwe has blamed the “ineffectual” nature of the Nigerian laws as the main cause of corruption in the country.
He added that the reason why the country still remains in the battle to fight the scourge is because “there is a culture of impunity majorly because the law is ineffectual’’
The entire infrastructure, architecture of justice delivery in Nigeria..the cases take much too long “ he said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday.
He advocated for the increase in the number of judges and the quick dispensation of judgment especially in corruption related cases.
He further said “the major thing the NBA can do is to advocate and to engage all level of governance, we have spoken with the Attorney General of the Federation”.
He also blamed the executive arm of government of not seeing the link between the rule of law and economic development, claiming that “if they did, they will even be in the driver’s seat trying to push for an increase in the appointment of judges”.

Corruption: Akinola Tasks Nigerians

Abeokuta - Most Rev. Peter Akinola, the former Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), has stressed the need for Nigerians to eschew corruption to ensure a better future for the country.
The cleric said this in Abeokuta at a media round table on “Breaking the Corruption Jinx in Nigeria.”
Reports say that the programme was the concluding part of the ‘Wake-Up-Call’ series of discussions organised by the Peter Akinola Foundation.
“If there must be hope of a better country, Nigerians must break the corruption jinx,” he said.
The former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) noted that from the beginning of Nigeria’s tortuous journey to Nationhood, corruption had been “an accompanying baggage.’’
“For Nigeria, endemic corruption constitutes a huge challenge and remains the biggest obstacle to her development.
“Its overall harmful effect is the reason why Nigeria, a country that is so endowed, has become a crawling beggar- Nation with millions of poor, miserable and unhappy citizens,” he said.
Akinola said that urgent measures must be taken to strengthen the fight against corruption in order to ensure a bright future for the Nation.
He said that an honest, relentless and redemptive war on corruption was necessary for the country to have a new lease of life.
The cleric also stressed the need for strong political will as well as a courageous and sincere leadership to confront the endemic and systemic nature of corruption in Nigeria.

Source: Babsol Newspaper

Policewoman caught on video demanding N100 bribe

Barely two weeks after a police sergeant, Chris Omeleze, was dismissed after being caught on video demanding a bribe of N25,000, another footage showing a policewoman negotiating a bribe of N100 has surfaced on YouTube.

The video footage, which circulated on the video-sharing website on Monday, showed the policewoman sitting in a commercial bus which she had apprehended at a yet-to-be identified location in Lagos.

The driver and the conductor, who had passengers in their bus, were seen making efforts to pacify the policewoman so that they could be allowed to continue with their journey; but their pleas went unheeded.

Soon, the driver got infuriated and slammed the policewoman, saying, “Don’t abuse me because of N100. How much is N100? Me I don pass N100.” The policewoman replied, “E no concern me. Pay me my own money.”

When the driver realised that she was hell-bent on collecting the bribe, he asked his bus conductor to give her the money.

“Give her N100. I will return it to you later,” the driver said in Yoruba language. As soon as the driver handed down the instruction, the policewoman alighted from the bus and walked towards the conductor.

Just as the two were moving towards the back of the bus, a voice from the background lamented, “You pay for police, you pay for agbero.”  The policewoman was then seen with another female colleague of hers walking away from the scene.

The video was shot by someone sitting in the bus but it was uploaded on YouTube by one Afro Finlandia.

Meanwhile, a social media outrage has trailed the development, just as the video has become a sensation on various social networking sites.  Those who watched it on a popular online forum, nairaland.com, where it was shared, described the scene as ridiculous.

The respondents said it was unfortunate that the bad eggs in the police had yet to learn some lessons despite the fact that one of them was summarily dismissed recently.

A member of the forum, Chisom, lamented, “This is bad! Our police force again? Na wa o! Make them change na!”

Another respondent urged Nigerians who took the bold step of filming the video to do more so as to restore sanity to the Nigeria Police. “I’m impressed. Bribery and corruption must be eradicated. We have to help the government in eradicating this crime,” one Chingydaboss stated.

One Olucheye also noted, “Great! It’s technology against corrupt police officers. Hopefully, we’ll help the police authorities (to) fish out a large number of bad eggs in the system. Video-enabled phones is a tool every Nigerian should have now.”

“Nice one. These usel… police. Camera phone is their undoing. People should also get hidden cameras in their cars too. These police go dey shake when time to collect money come. Most of them will just start staying at home instead of creating illegal roadblocks to extort money from people,” another member of the forum with the name Baby, said.

However, the thought that a policewoman could insist on collecting N100 bribe from a motorist further unsettled some viewers. This, they argued, showed the rot in the police system, and many of them advocated drastic change.

Commenting on the forum, a Nigerian with the name Jkendy observed, “What a policeman can do, a policewoman can do worse. Thank goodness, they were caught by civilians.”

Those who saw the video also shared their various experiences with police officers in their various communities. They posited that since the policewomen’s faces were captured in the video, the police authorities should take necessary action.

The development has also made Nigerians to call for appropriate remuneration for the rank and file of the police, as well as adequate funding of the institution.

“If she is sacked, how will she earn a living? This might have a negative impact on those who depend on her. Why don’t we people also put as much pressure on government to increase the  pay of policemen and women as they are putting on the campaign of exposing the corrupt officers?” one Litmus noted.

 

Source: PUNCH

Complaints commission backs fight against corruption, injustice

The Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, Osun State, Prof. Razaq Abubakre, has pledged the commission’s readiness to join others in the war against corruption and injustice in the country.

He said despite the level of corruption in Nigeria and the fight against the truth, the country could still be sanitised through the commission’s renewed commitment to truth and fairness.

He commended Punch Newspapers for what he described as its exemplary media practice and consistent pursuit of excellent journalism, which he said had been unequaled in the last 10 years in the country.

The commissioner made the remarks while on a courtesy visit to Punch Place, in Magboro, Ogun State, on Tuesday.

According to Abubakre, who is also the Chairman of the Publicity, Public Enlightenment Committee of the Commission, the agency faces a Herculean task, like journalists in the country, who are constantly persecuted because of their roles as the watchdog of society.

He said, “Who likes the watchdog? It is only someone who is doing what is right. Whoever is doing what is wrong, will not like the watchdog. That is the reason some people try to frustrate the watchdog, while some go as far as shooting and killing the watchdog.

“Essentially, what journalists are doing, apart from educating, informing and entertaining, is the pursuit of the truth. You pursue the truth, find the truth, speak the truth, stand by the truth and defend the truth. People don’t like the watchdog, and that is why they threaten, kill and imprison journalists.

“We are here to serve everybody and use our official position to do what is right, investigate and restore justice to Nigeria.”

He said despite that the commission was established in 1975 by the Murtala Muhammed administration, it had been inactive, which he said became more pronounced from 1999 to 2012, when its service was most needed.

Source: PUNCH

UNIBEN lecturer arraigned over alleged bribe

A former Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Law, University of Benin, Isu-Ochiora Okogeri, has been arraigned in court for allegedly taking bribe to facilitate change of course of a female student to the Faculty of Law of the institution.

Okogeri is standing trial on a one-count charge of corrupting himself as a public officer by receiving N100,000 from one a student (name withheld), with a promise to effect her course change to the Faculty of Law, an offence punishable under section 98(b)(11) of the criminal code.

Giving evidence in the case with Charge No MCK/94C/2013, the first prosecution witness, (PW1), Edoseghe Oghogho Idahosa, who is the Head of the Intelligence Unit in the Security Department of the University, led by the state counsel, Kenneth Ugiagbe, said the accused person committed the offence on December 31, 2012.

Source: TRIBUNE