President Muhammadu Buhari has said the investigation and prosecution of some judges is not aimed at intimidating the judiciary.

Buhari said this on Monday while declaring open the 2017 All Nigerian Judges conference in Abuja.

Background:

• Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) raided the homes of some judges last year.
• Some of judges were arrested and are currently undergoing trial.

What Buhari said:

He said executive and legislative officials were also investigated.

He said he believes that the “majority of judicial officers are learned and incorruptible and day in day out acting in the best spirit of their oath of office’’.

“My lords, the judiciary came under investigation earlier this year. Let me again assure the judicial community, this action taken by the executive was in no way a prelude to usurping the powers of the National Judicial Council or aimed at intimidating the judiciary,” he said.

“Executive and legislative officials were also investigated… I am aware that the majority of judicial officers are learned and incorruptible and day-in-day-out acting in the best spirit of their oath of office.”

Buhari also complained that many court cases are being dragged for years without a final order or judgment.

“There are contradictory decisions of superior courts on the same subject matter in cases where facts are substantially the same without a clear attempt in subsequent cases to distinguish the earlier cases.

“This lack of clarity leads to serious confusion to the lower courts.

“The knock-on efforts of these delays and dis-continuities range from loss of confidence in the judicial system to over-crowding of prisons.’’

Azeez