Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the raid on homes of ‘corrupt’ judges by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) was necessary to cleanse the judiciary.

Obasanjo said this while delivering a speech at the First Akintola Williams annual lecture in Lagos on Wednesday.

“Three weeks before the first three judges were arrested for corruption, I was talking to a fairly senior retired public officer who put things this way, ‘The Judiciary is gone, the National Assembly is gone, the military is sunk and the civil service was gone before them; God save Nigeria.’ I said a loud Amen,” Obasanjo said.

“Three weeks later, the process of saving the Judiciary began. And if what I have gathered is anything to go by, there may be not less than two score of judicial officers that may have questions to answer. That will be salutary for the Judiciary and for the Nation.”

The former President said the judiciary left the executive with no choice in the incident.

He said, “While one would not feel unconcerned for the method used, one should also ask if there was an alternative,” the former president said.

“The National Judicial Council, NJC, would not do anything as it was all in-breeding. As now contained in our Constitution, the President of Nigeria cannot influence or make any appointment to the Judiciary at the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court level.

“He can only transmit the decision of the NJC to the Senate even where Senate confirmation is required. The Constitution which was heavily influenced by the Judiciary ensured that. And yet a drastic disease requires a drastic treatment. When justice is only for sale and can only be purchased by the highest bidder, impunity and anarchy would be the order of the day and no one would be safe.”

Azeez