CJN WARNS METUH AND PDP NOT TO GO BEYOUND THEIR LIMITS.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud
Mohammed, has warned the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, not to go beyond bounds in its
political utterances about the judiciary. This is in
view of the opposition party’s allegation that the
Court of Appeal is unduly interfering in the various
cases before the various election petition
tribunals.
The CJN through his media aide, Ahuraka Isah,
wrote yesterday that “Somebody has to counsel
Metuh to avoid treading where he has limited
knowledge, because Judiciary is not where one
makes allegations without proofs.”
It would be recalled that the PDP’s National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the
previous day alleged that the Court of Appeal had
been meddling in court cases with a view to
swaying them in favour of the All Progressives
Congress, APC.
Metuh expressed the intent of his party to draw
the attention of the President of the Court of
Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to reports of
undue interferences, emanating from her office,
in the activities of various election petition
tribunals and other judicial cases, ostensibly to
sway them against the PDP and in favour of the
ruling APC.
He also called on Justice Mohammed to jealously
guard the independence of the judiciary, and
ensure that any activity that tends to undermine
the sanctity of that arm of government is stiffly
resisted in the interest of democracy.
“While we would not want to believe that the
President of the Court of Appeal is so involved,
given the sensitivity of her office, we wish to
caution, in very strong terms, that such is
completely unacceptable as it principally detracts
from the sanctity of the judiciary as the citadel of
justice and erode the trust reposed on it by the
people,” the PDP mouthpiece had said.
But angered by the weighty allegations made by
the opposition party, the CJN said the party and its
spokesperson needed to be counseled that they
must not tread where they have little or no
knowledge about. He added that it is not his wish
“to join issues with people exercising their rights
to freedom of speech, except the sensitive and
sacred nature of the Judiciary in the society.”
The nation’s top judge asserted that the integrity
of the judiciary at the moment was non-
negotiable, and noted that many members of the
APC and the PDP had won and lost at the
tribunals all over the country.
He wondered whether this should be interpreted
to mean that “the president of the Court of Appeal
has influenced the tribunal to also give judgments
in favour of the PDP members that have won their
cases.
“We all agree that the 1999 Constitution (as
amended) provides for freedom of expression, but
it cannot be exercised in isolation recklessly like
loose cannon,” he stated.
Justice Mohammed went on to state categorically
that “I make bold to state that the integrity of the
Judiciary this time around is non-negotiable.
“Independent judiciary intrinsically means judges
can make decisions irrespective of the political
winds that are blowing. And we are indeed doing
same at the election petition tribunal,” he noted.