The National Judicial Council has
constituted separate panels to investigate various allegations of
misconduct against 15 judges, including two Chief Judges...
The NJC’s Director of Information, Mr.
Soji Oye, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday, did not give the
identities of the affected judges.
But it stated that the NJC received a
letter from the Zamfara Sate Government approving the Council’s
recommendation for the compulsory removal of Justice Musa Anka of the
Zamfara State High Court.
Oye stated that the NJC took the
decisions at its 83rd meeting held last week after considering the
reports of the two Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committees on 46
petitions written against judicial officers in the federal and state
judiciaries.
The NJC’s meeting was said to have been
presided over by its Chairman, Justice Walter Onnoghen, who is also the
Chief Justice of Nigeria.
The NJC had recommended Anka for
compulsory retirement since May, 2011, for allegedly receiving a bribe
of N200,000 from one Zubairu Abdumalik in order to deliver judgment in
his favour.
But the NJC’s recommendation was not
formally approved by the successive governors of the state as required
by the Constitution since then.
The PUNCH had reported on July
28 that Anka was among seven judges kicked out of office since 2011, but
had escaped full sanctions due to the failure of the Presidency, the
police and state governors to implement key recommendations of the NJC
against the affected judicial officials.
The NJC’s meeting, held between September 27 and 29, 2017, was the first by the Council since The PUNCH’s report of July 28.
The NJC’s statement on Monday read in
part, “Council welcomed as good development, a letter from Zamfara State
Government approving the recommendation of the National Judicial
Council for the compulsory removal of Hon. Mr. Justice Musa Ibrahim Anka
from office for allegedly receiving a bribe of N200,000 from one
Zubairu Abdumalik in order to deliver judgement in his favour.
“The recommendation was made to the Zamfara State Government by Council in 2011.”
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