A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Monday held a peaceful march in Abuja, calling on the authorities to wade into the alleged politicisation of the judiciary in the country.
The protesters brandished several banners and placards with inscriptions such as “Enough of crooked court orders,” “We want independence of the judiciary,” “NJC must act now,” “Save the Nigerian judiciary, the time is now,” and “Corrupt judges must be expunged from the system now,” marched through the road linking the Federal Secretariat complex to the precinct of the Court of Appeal to register their misgivings on the alleged abuse of the judiciary.
Chief Convener of the coalition, Comrade Igwe Ude-Umanta, who submitted a petition on the issue to the National Judicial Council (NJC), singled out the controversial decisions of the courts in Benue and Rivers states as instances where judicial officers have allegedly taken politically motivated decisions in breach of laid-down rules and regulations.
The protesters frowned at the Benue State Chief Judge, Justice Maurice Ikpambese, and Justice M.M. Adamu of the Abuja High Court, who they claimed “by their actions have converted the title of justice to injustice.”
They maintained that it behooves the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekereke-Ekun, and the NJC to expunge corrupt judges from the Nigerian judiciary in order to restore its integrity.
Justifying their claim, they alleged: “How on earth could a Chief Judge of a state flagrantly abuse his office by flaunting the state laws, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) is quiet? Justice Maurice Ikpambese, the Chief Judge of Benue State, unilaterally granted a waiver to petitioners of the Local Government Election Tribunal not to pay a security deposit, a constitutional prerequisite for any valid petition, and he has not been sanctioned.
“On the strength of the refusal of the NJC to punish him, he again violated the electoral laws of Benue State when he relocated the Local Government Elections Petition Tribunal to Abuja, which is clearly off territorial jurisdiction, in clear violation of the Benue State Electoral Law, yet the NJC is just watching.
“In an attempt to protect the Constitution of Nigeria and the laws of Benue State, the Attorney General of Benue State approached the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, which granted an order restraining the Tribunal from sitting anywhere outside Benue State, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) House in Abuja. This order was granted on the 7th of March 2025 to the admiration of Nigerians.
“Surprisingly, on Friday, 14th March 2025, an FCT High Court 34, presided over by Justice M.M. Adamu, frivolously issued another order compelling the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal to conduct sittings in Abuja, particularly at the NBA House.
“The question is, can the Benue State laws be applied in the FCT or any other state other than Benue State? If the answer is NO, it is also clear that the Benue State Local Government Election Tribunal cannot sit outside Benue State.
“Justice M.M. Adamu is a saboteur in the judiciary who has abandoned his oath of office. Therefore, he is no longer fit to be a judge anywhere in the world. There is no justice near M.M. Adamu for granting an order of court against the electoral laws of Benue State.”
“Honourable CJN Ma, under your watch, the Supreme Court descended into live issues in Rivers State and decided a case that was not before it when it held that Matthew Ameawhule is the Speaker of the House of Assembly while the case is still pending in the High Court and Appeal Court, respectively.
“The judgment of the Supreme Court has been criticized by the 11-man Independent Judicial Accountability Panel headed by retired Justice Mojeed Omoade. As part of its recommendations, the panel held that ‘politicians should generally avoid undue influence on the judiciary and be more accommodating of each other in the interest of their people.”
“It also urged the government at all levels to obey court orders and respect the fundamental rights of citizens in a democracy, decrying that over nine months after the ECOWAS Court awarded damages to victims of the October 2020 End SARS protest, the Federal Government had yet to comply with the judgment.
“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to fold his arms as the judiciary is being bastardised on a daily basis. Mr. President, sir, the Benue situation is the worst at the moment because the petitioners did not even participate in any of the processes of the election.
“The petitioners ordinarily have no locus to approach the Tribunal because the Austin Agada-led APC executive was dissolved and a Caretaker Committee inaugurated before Justice Theresa Igoche’s order restraining the National Working Committee of the APC from dissolving the Benue State Executive was served.”
The Guardian
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