Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004.
Judiciary will not succumb to blackmail - Uwais
By Rotimi Fadeyi
Senior
Correspondent, Abuja
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice
Mohammed Lawal Uwais on Tuesday in Abuja said the judiciary would not succumb
to blackmail in the performance of its role in ensuring justice and fairness in
its decisions on cases and issues brought before it for adjudication.
Uwais, who spoke at the opening ceremony of
the National Summit, Legal and Judicial Reform Component of the Economic
Management Capacity Building Project (EMCAP) said, “I note in this regard
that certain persons and groups now attempt to coerce the judiciary into
deciding cases in a certain way by making wild allegations of impropriety
against judicial officers.
He warned, “Those indulging in such
practices might be labouring under the notion that freedom of expression covers
such conduct.”
In the keynote address, Uwais said,
“For the avoidance of doubt, the judiciary welcome any information giving
particulars of impropriety against judicial officers where the allegation is
based on fact. Every such allegation is thoroughly investigated. Several
judicial officers have been removed, where the allegations have been found to
be true. That is as it should be.”
“But to try to influence the outcome
of judicial proceedings by crying ‘wolf’ when the person making the
allegation knows fully well that it is false, amounts to contempt of court,
punishable as a crime.
“We wish to assure the public that
the judiciary will continue to perform its duties faithfully and will never
yield to blackmail,” he stated.
