Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagemi (SAN) has cautioned Nigerians and politicians against disparaging the judiciary as a result of the outcome of election petition verdicts.
He described allegations making the rounds against the country’s judiciary as cheap blackmail.
Prince Fagbemi appealed to politicians that lost out at all levels not to throw caution to the wind because of their losses at the tribunal.
He also urged them to stop making unfounded insinuations against the judges, adding that anybody who has concrete evidence against any judge should feel free to bring it forth.
The attorney general spoke with reporters in his Ijagbo, Oyun Local Government Area, Kwara State‘s country home on the sidelines of a prayer organised in his honour.
He said: “You lost at the tribunal, you lost at the Appeal Court and at the Supreme Court yet you are insinuating foul play. I think even apart from law, morality also demands that you take the outcome as it is.
“I am not saying that judges cannot be wrong, because they are human beings. Where anybody sees or feels that the course of justice has been perverted, they should feel free to bring it forth rather than making unfounded insinuations.
“Unless you are able to bring forth concrete evidence, I will not succumb to blackmail. Nobody will shield an erring judge.
“One thing about justice is that the man who wins will praise the judgment, the person who loses will never agree that he has lost fairly unless you give him the judgment.
“Don’t forget, when you make unfounded insinuations, you are dragging the name of the nation in the mud.”
He urged “all and sundry to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship.”
Speaking at the venue of the prayer session organised by his siblings and the entire Fagbemis, the minister enjoined Nigerians to give President Tinubu a chance to turn around the fortunes of the country.
He added that President Tinubu is not looking at the immediate benefits of his efforts but the long term benefits.
“That is why I appeal to all and sundry to give him a chance.
“He is a man who is ready for the task. It takes a while to see the full effect of his efforts.
“He is not the one who created these problems in Nigeria, but he is not complaining.
“President Tinubu is somebody who wants to work. He is prepared to do the job.
“He is not somebody who is just learning the job. He has done it before in Lagos State. I am not equating Lagos with Nigeria.
“Immediately after his swearing in, he has been all out to seek investors’ buy in. As a result, positive responses have been trailing his discussions with foreign investors.
“The only thing we need is to exercise some patience. Even if you plant a tree, it won’t grow into fruition until after a while.”
On judicial reforms, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria revealed that he had used the platform of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to make the governors come on board.
He added that the Federal Government would also engage judges at both federal and state levels.
He said: “What I have done is to seek the platform of NGF to address all the governors in Nigeria as to what they are required to do if anything is being done at the level of the Federal Government.
“We expect that the states, within their limited resources, will let into it.
“Another thing is that we need to engage the judges, because it is one thing to make laws, it is another thing to administer it.
“We also need to engage the chief judges, especially at the state level. We need uniformity without necessarily turning the country into a unitary system.”
Meanwhile, a former Commissioner of Information in Plateau State, Mr Yakubu Dati, has condemned the PDP in the state for attacking the judiciary following the Appeal Court judgment that sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
Governor Mutfwang’s election was nullified by the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja last week. The court declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Dr Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, the winner of the poll.
Speaking on an Arise Television programme focusing on the political development in Plateau State, Dati alleged that the protesters took pictures of the judges who decided the case and labeled them enemies of the state.
His words: “There are rules and regulations that guide our actions in life as organised society. So, the disobedience of the court order by PDP is highly condemnable because this is a lawful society and PDP knows that what they did was a contravention of court order.
“They were warned and the judiciary looked at the merit of the matter. With that judgment, Plateau people are happy but PDP and its supporters are running helter-skelter.
“The Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Sule, resigned and Dewan Gabriel is now the new Speaker.
“The House of Assembly said they are embarking on two months recess. This is the consequence of those who don’t believe in the rule of law. They want to pull the house down because it does not favour them.
“This is like a coup. They are suspending the key aspect of the democratic process. But the newly elected governor has asked the people to remain calm.”
He denied the allegation that APC wants to entrench one party state, using the judiciary, and recalled that an APC governor was sacked by the court in Zamfara and upheld the election of a PDP governorship candidate, adding that an APC governor-elect was also sacked in Bayelsa.
He alleged that Mutfwang as governor of Plateau State sacked about 1,000 workers employed by his predecessor and also sacked the local government chairmen that were in charge when he took over as governor, adding that the APC governor, Goshwe, would not disappoint Plateau people.
“The judiciary came on board based on the constitution. We are happy that despite the insults heaped on the judiciary by the PDP supporters, the judiciary is unperturbed. I am happy the judiciary is playing its role,” he said.
However, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Advocacy for Justice and Good Governance (AJGG), has demanded that the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Haruna Isa Dederi should name the corrupt Justices of the Appeal Court or be prosecuted.
Dederi had on Wednesday appeared on Channels Television programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ and made spurious allegations about the justices of the Appeal Court.
To this end, AJGG yesterday called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to commence the process of prosecuting Dederi for an alleged accusation of Justices of the Appeal Court of corruption should he fail to substantiate his allegation by revealing the names of the corrupt Justices.
The Coordinator of the group, Francis Nzeoke, in a statement in Abuja demanded that the commissioner should come forward and give details on the corrupt judges he was referring to.
Expressing concern over recent developments in Kano over the governorship election litigations, AJGG noted the unguarded utterances and actions of officials of the state government, including the threat and harassment of judges and the maligning of the judiciary.
Nzeoke pointed out that AJGG along with other NGOs would speak out against any attempt by politicians to ridicule men of unblemished legal record or in any way bully judges and justices.
The NGO also tasked the Nigerian Bar Association to ensure that appropriate disciplinary measures are taken against its erring members.
“We are calling on the authorities to question Dederi so that he provides evidence of all the allegations he made on Channels Television. If he cannot, he should be arrested and prosecuted.
“We are worried about the turn of events in recent times where politicians lose cases in the court and resort to dishing out threats on justices. It is a bad omen for our democracy and the rule of law,” the group said.(The Nation)
