Anti-graft war: No cause for alarm, CJN tells Nigerians

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen has disclosed that the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government is on course, insisting that the fight against graft has not lost steam in spite of the recent losses of four major court cases.

Justice Onnoghen made the statement on a day the Federal Government has emphasised that the serial negative outcome of corruption cases recorded at the high court level would not dampen the anti-graft battle, calling on Nigerians not to be discouraged by the recent setbacks in the fight.

He assured that the Judiciary is fully committed to fighting corruption.

The CJN made the statement on Tuesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Onnoghen, who spoke with State House correspondents, also faulted the insinuation that there’s a judicial gang up to scuttle the war against corruption.

The Daily Times recalls that within a week, the Federal Government lost the freezing of N75 million legal fees paid to Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, alleged corrupt activities against former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Godsday Orubebe, freezing of $5.9 million of former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and the discharge of Justice Adeniyi Ademola, his wife, Olubowale and Mr. Joe Agi (SAN), over alleged corruption.

But Onnoghen on Tuesday allayed the fears of Nigerians, saying that the Federal Government can appeal the court ‎rulings. He also urged Nigerians not to be judgmental.

He said: “I am not going to speculate. I am a lawyer and a judicial officer. I operate on facts and the law. So, I can’t answer that question because I am not on everybody’s mind. You are free to think whatever you want to think but I think you should be guided by facts and the law when it comes to judicial performance or discharge of judicial responsibilities.

“The system is fashioned and designed in such a way that if you lose in the magistrate court and you are not satisfied; because someone must win and another must lose; so the loser has the chance of testing the decision on appeal. When it comes to the judiciary, don’t be judgmental. When you are judgmental, you become prejudice.”

On the issue of the losing four cases in a row, the CJN said: “You take that as losing steam? If there was steam, then it wouldn’t have been without the participation of the judiciary. Good. So, if there is losing of steam, you should not equally relate it only to the judiciary. The fight against corruption has lost no steam.

“It is not correct. Now, you should know one thing: two people will always have a ‎quarrel. They may be three or four or one hundred. All the parties to that quarrel will always have different stories to tell.

The way our system is fashioned and designed and operated, when you go to a court of law, you cannot have a drawn game. There must be a winner and there must be a loser.

In our system, a loser has the chance of appealing to the highest court eventually.

“So, you cannot say because the government or any agency has lost a case in the high court, you have lost a case and the fight is losing steam. You should realise that there is a constitution in place and under the constitution, there is a rule of law. So, every system under a constitutional arrangement operated under the rule of law must have these things as checks and balances to protect everyone. It is for everyone.”

Speaking on his commitment to the war against corruption, Onnoghen reaffirmed his commitment, saying:
“Personally, I am committed to that fight and it remains so. I remain resolute in that commitment.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Tuesday, the Federal Government emphasised that the serial negative outcome of corruption cases recorded at the high court level would not dampen the anti-graft battle, calling on Nigerians not to be discouraged by the recent setbacks in the fight.

In the statement issued in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, assured Nigerians that the government has appealed against all the negative decisions, and will vigorously canvass its case at the level of the Court of Appeal, disclosing that all the judgments are being rigorously reviewed to determine whether there were errors on government side or victim of mischief.

“The war against corruption is going to be long, tough and arduous, but this administration is equipped, physically, mentally and intellectually, for the long haul. We must win this war because the law is on our side, the people are on our side and God is on our side. This is only the beginning, so any setback will not deter or discourage us,” the Minister said.

He appealed to Nigerians to continue to identify with what he described as a titanic struggle, noting: ”This is not Buhari’s war.

“It is Nigeria’s war of liberation from poverty, misery, sickness and wretchedness.”

Mohammed said Nigeria cannot afford unnecessary technicalities as far as the war against corruption is concerned especially because of the adverse and devastating consequences of corruption on the polity.

“Nigerians will appreciate more the grave and dire consequences of corruption when they consider that the $9.2 million found in a village house in Southern Kaduna can finance the construction of one health center in each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria and fund them for one year.

“Against this background, one can therefore imagine what Nigeria could have achieved with the $20 billion that was estimated to have been looted in the last three years of the immediate past administration, either in the areas of job creation or infrastructural development.

“The government is therefore more determined than ever to recover as much of this plundered funds as possible and use them to put our youths back to work, fix our roads and other infrastructure, equip our hospitals and universities and invest in electricity in order to bring our industries back to life and bring back some level of comfort to our homes and offices,” he added.