The DSS action on the justices and judges is rather quite revealing: of monumental corruption in the Nigerian Judiciary. This is because some of our Lordships had desecrated the temple of justice. Justices and judges had been rigged into top hierarchies of the judiciary by corrupt politicians; sponsored with funds sourced from proceeds of organized crime. This explains why, there are distortions in our political and social systems. Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; mandate the National Judicial Council to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers.

Anyway, the NJC had failed rather woefully to stopping corruption in the judiciary. The DSS action on the alleged justices and judges calls for sober reflection from the NJC and the NBA respectively. A cash and carry judiciary is a weapon of mass destruction. Corrupt justices and judges constitute a threat to national security. Justice for sale is a recipe for anarchy. The DSS action on the judges is not a matter for politics but crime and criminality. The National Assembly’s debate on the issue is from the perspective that: the DSS action was a crack down or clamp down on the judiciary. This insinuation is precipitant and creating the impression that the action was a witch hunt.

Furthermore, the senate debate on the issue is rather mindreading and not investigative of the issue at stake. The Senate and House of Representatives is seeking populist credentials with the issue. This is to say the least, playing politics with crime and criminality. The Senators applied their minds to the National Security Agencies Acts 2010 Cap 350 and Section 4 specifically therein. Their conclusion was that the DSS acted outside its constitutional mandate and usurped the powers of the NJC. Judicial Councils are bodies designed to insulate the functions of appointment, promotion, and discipline of judges from partisan political process while ensuring some level of judicial accountability. The NJC had been compromised and stained with political interests.

Justices and judges only have limited immunity in relations to what they do as judges. They can not be sued over their judgments. They have no immunity for criminal offences. The NJC does not have investigative capacity, skills and techniques for criminal matters. It can only apply civil sanctions. From 2009 to 2014, the NJC had sanctioned 64 judges by sending them on compulsory retirement. The judges were allowed to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth, receive pension and retirement benefits.

Well, for the avoidance of doubt, the DSS can investigate judicial corruption: as a unit of Law enforcement attached to the executive arm of government; more so, when the matter at issue was referred to it from the office of the Chief Law Officer. It has an inherent duty to investigate criminal case referred to it by the Attorney General of the federation. The National Assembly has a narrow understanding of threat to internal security. Their focus was on civil disobedience and insurrection. Judicial corruption is a threat to national security. The NJC is only responsible for supervising judges.

So, the NJC calling an emergency meeting after the DSS action is rather acting too late. Judicial corruption had gotten to its apogee and needful of drastic action. The NJC should rather join efforts with the DSS to clean up the judiciary. The NBA is pretentious about its declaration of state of emergency. It should be worried about the behavior of some of its senior members: who are facilitating judicial corruption. The NJC and the NBA should come clean on the DSS action and stop equivocating on the issue.

In conclusion, the legislators have the mandate to make laws and oversight the executive. The judiciary has the mandate to interpret the law. The Executive have the mandate to investigate and prosecute for crime and criminality. The DSS is part of the law enforcement units of the executive arm of government. Therefore, it is wrong and mischievous for anybody to suggest or create the impression that, the action of the DSS is unconstitutional. The DSS can exercise police powers if delegated to it by a competent authority. In this case, the chief law officer of the federation did. Police powers includes; stop, search, arrest and detention of a suspected offender or person(s) alleged to have committed a crime.

The action of the DSS did not violate the doctrine of separation of powers. It is the duty of the executive to detect, investigate and prosecute crime and criminality. It is ridiculous for anybody or group of people to suggest that: judges should investigate themselves and recommend their brother judges for prosecutions to the executive arm of government. This is against the elementary notion of justice. Our National Assembly should do research on issues and stop speaking from misguided sentiments. After all, our national assembly is a nest of legislative corruption. Therefore, the show of solidarity with judicial corruption is very understandable. The National Assembly, NJC and NBA should live in a post fact world.

Some of the arrested justices and judges had been making funny insinuations, trying to create inferences on why they were guests of the DSS. Judges and justices should be learned on facts relevant to the facts in issue. They are telling lies with the intention to getting public sympathy. If anybody at all, attempted to bribe them in the past, this is not the best of defense for them. They should limit themselves to fact relevant to the facts in issue. Any attempt to politicizing the matter will rather boomerang.