The suspension of Justice Abubakar Talba of the Abuja High Court by the National Judicial Council (NJC) is a welcome reminder that the provision and the process exist in the governance of the Nigerian Judiciary to rid itself of corruption. Given the several unfortunate instances degrading the Judiciary, proven acts of misconduct by judges sound the death knell on the integrity of every other Judge in the temple of justice; the third realm of government. Misconduct of any kind is therefore condemnable and given the gravity of the issue, the NJC ought to have banned Justice Talba from the bench. The country needs a Judiciary in its pristine form.
Justice Talba was suspended for one year without pay “sequel to the findings by Council that he did not exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously with regard to the sentences he passed on one of the accused persons, Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf in the Police Pension case of FRN Vs. Esai Dangabar and 5 Ors,” read a statement by the NJC Deputy Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye. The NJC found Justice Talba guilty of misconduct in the case involving a catalogue of charges of multi-billion naira malfeasances against Yusufu who confessed to complicity in stealing N23.3 billion in the Police Pension Fund scam.
When the matter came before Justice Talba, he sentenced Yusufu to a N750.000 fine; a bizarre and morally reprehensible slap-on-the-wrist sentence that provoked public outrage and forced the NJC to open investigations. Coming in the wake of the compulsory retirement of two other errant Judges; Justices Archibong of the Federal High Court and T.D Naron of the Plateau High Court, these sanctions to disinfect the Judiciary are in line with the hopes raised by Chief Justice Alooma Mukhtar, who upon assuming office, vowed to cleanse the Judiciary. Public confidence in the judiciary has been declining and appears to have reached the nadir as many judges can no longer be trusted with the dispensation of justice; in a judiciary where the innocent but poor go to jail while the guilty but rich get bail.
The suspension of Justice Talba notwithstanding, the point must be made that all efforts to disinfect the Judiciary have to be conducted with fairness, vigor and in line with due process; more so, because the recent examples of errant judges who have been sanctioned are not without some questions: the NJC’s announcement, says, inter alia, that Justice Talba, hitherto officially commended for his competence, was amongst others, guilty of not exercising “his discretion judicially and judiciously” with regard to the sentence he passed on Yusuf, which showed that the Judge did not have a full grasp of the law.
Section 309 of the Criminal Procedure Act, (CPA), upon which Yusufu was charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allowed the court to sentence the accused to a maximum of two years imprisonment with a fine but Talba used his discretion to order Yusufu to only pay fine of N750.000, after the accused had admitted conspiracy to steal N23.3 billion from the Police Pension Fund. Talba’s indictment is a poor reflection of the NJC’s own quality assurance mechanism because it is within the ambits of its responsibility to ensure the competence of judicial appointees. Was Justice Talba of several years’ unblemished service not worthy in character and learning in the first place? And how did his performance on the bench deteriorate, all of a sudden towards such ignominy as the NJC has advertised?
It is perhaps fair to say Justice Talba’s case is comparatively straight-forward and his compromise of judicial neutrality palpable. The question is; would the NJC discern what activates this failure of judgment that renders a sitting Judge vulnerable to these blatant overtures? In the extant matter, whilst the NJC cannot be expected to read minds and motives but rather to rely on the evidence found at the crime scene, as it were, it is important to caution that in interpreting the actions of judges, NJC should ensure that consistency, not selective alacrity, will be a dominant requirement in cleansing the judiciary. Anything less is another terrible misconduct that does greater evil to the judiciary.
It must however be stated that no institution can be immune to the ravages of the society in which it exists; at least not forever. That the country’s criminal justice system is primitive and therefore overdue for reforms is an incontrovertible fact. The judiciary of course is a victim of debauchery and moral despoliation foisted on the country by politicians. It is a known fact that only a few become judges without being heavily connected within the corridors of power. Compromise is, in essence, engrafted in the recruitment or elevation process ab initio. Politicians and political office holders are the greatest beneficiaries of this deficit in the criminal justice system.
In a less-than-ideal environment as Nigeria, it is foolhardy to play the ostrich by letting Judges live on the bench by their wits. In the light of tales of remuneration and pensions for public servants, this may be a good time to counsel that all matters that tend to distract judicial officers or make them susceptible to inducements should be proactively solved. The NJC must proceed to buffer the personal and material integrity of the Judges and encourage a system that ensures enough comfort for them and discourage immorality on the part of Judges. Provisions for post-retirement housing, transportation, health care constitute critical facilities to sustain the dignity of a serving Judge. In addition, social security and social welfare schemes may handily be introduced to shield Judges from being unduly influenced as they deploy themselves to impartiality in the discharge of their oath.
Additionally, corrupt judges must be handed over to ICPC or EFCC for prosecution. Taking them before the NJC gives the judiciary the privilege to be a judge in its own case. NJC is made up of judges and lawyers who at one time or the other might have been close associates and friends of the judges brought before them for disciplinary action. The position of the law is that corruption is a grievous offence for which the statutory procedure for its investigation and prosecution admits no exception just as the law is no respecter of persons. Corruption in politics and public service is already asphyxiating Nigeria and the country cannot survive corruption in the judiciary.
