Senior Nigerian lawyers have reportedly turned down offers from federal government to prosecute Judges arrested by DSS.
File Photo
The Federal Government has lost the bid to secure the services of
senior lawyers to prosecute judges alleged of corruption, an impeccable
source has told Politics Nigeria.
The Federal Government is currently prosecuting three judges, the
Chief Registrar and two other senior officials of the Supreme Court for
alleged corruption.
The judges are Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court,
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja and Justice
Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High, Lagos.
Justices Ngwuta and Ademola were part of the eight judges arrested
by the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 8 and 9 for alleged
corruption. Justice Ajumogobia was, however, drilled by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before her prosecution commenced.
The source, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to
talk on the issue, said that not less than 15 SANs have rejected
Federal Government’s briefs for the prosecution of the judges.
The source further disclosed that part of the senior lawyers who
rejected the proposed fiat to prosecute included prominent senior
lawyers who are part of special prosecutors assembled by the Federal
Government through its National Prosecution Coordinating Committee.
It was recalled that in preparation for high profile cases, the
Federal Government, through the office of the Attorney General of the
Federation (AGF), had set up a National Prosecution Coordinating
Committee, which was made of several SANs.
It is further recalled that the government had assembled about 80
special prosecutors, grouped into 20 teams, for the purpose of
prosecuting high-profile cases that are instituted by the AGF and
Minister of Justice’s office. Each team is having four SANs.
The source also stated that at least a quarter of the group members
were offered the briefs of prosecuting the judges, but they declined.
Speaking on the decline, some senior lawyers who spoke on the condition
of anonymity said they rejected the brief based on how the Federal
Government went about the whole issue.
They added that they are in support of the efforts by the Federal
Government to cleanse the judiciary, but they are opposed to the
approach. Also, some well-recognised prosecutors, who are familiar with
handling corruption cases in the country, seem not to be willing to take
up the brief.
Some of them have attributed their rejection of the brief to the
fact that the government’s approach is targeted at caging the judiciary.
They, however, said that they are willing to defend the judges in
court.
However, in the absence of Nigerian-based senior lawyers, the
Federal Government was left with an option of looking elsewhere and this
resulted to government hiring two former international prosecutors,
Segun Jegede and Charles Adeogun-Philips. The duo has accepted the
offer, though the terms of contract are not known.
However, they have started the work of prosecution. While Jegede is
leading the prosecution of Justice Ademola, Adeogun-Philips heads the
prosecuting team with respect to Justice Ngwuta’s and the Supreme Court
officials’ trials.
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