APC Protest NJC’s 10-Man Ethics Committee, Vows Mass Protest
Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Chief Justice of Nigeria[/caption]
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee setup by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to review the code of conduct for judicial officers in the country was unacceptable to it has known sympathisers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Rivers state chapter of the APC in a statement on Sunday signed by Senibo Chris Finebone, State Publicity Secretary, alleged that the inclusion of retired Justice Iche Ndu and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Bar. Okey Wali SAN, in the committee was unethical.
“The Rivers State Chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has noted with shock the recent appointment of two well-known PDP sympathisers, foot soldiers and close associates of Gov. Nyesom Wike as members of the 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee of the National Judicial Council (NJC) with a mandate to review the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in the country. The two individuals are Retired Justice Iche Ndu and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Bar. Okey Wali SAN,” the party said.
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“The APC vehemently rejects the inclusion of these two individuals in a critical committee such as the Judicial Ethics Committee of the NJC charged with an all-important task of reviewing the code of conduct for judicial officers. Indeed, their inclusion underscores the unwillingness and unpreparedness of the NJC to buy into the anti-corruption drive of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. The APC views this action by the NJC as the height of insensitivity and brazen resistance to the efforts by the government to sanitize the Nigerian judiciary.
“The Chairman of NJC and Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and the rest of the Council members cannot feign ignorance of the overt political leanings of Iche Ndu and Okey Wali as PDP and Gov Nyesom Wike’s political facilitators whose activities and influence on judges are presently under investigation. We make bold to state that this obvious display of indiscretion by the Honourable Chief Justice and the NJC smacks of inexplicable
thoughtlessness, befuddles the mind and sears through good conscience,” it further stated.
While calling on the NJC and its chairman, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed to drop retired Justice Iche Ndu and Bar. Okey Wali SAN from the NJC 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee without delay, the party said failure to do so will compel it to mobilised long-drawn protest in selected locations in Port Harcourt and Abuja.
