The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday insisted on probing the petitions bothering on alleged corruption and maladministration against the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Mohammed, a day after his sudden retirement.
The stance of the upper legislative chamber followed a motion by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary Human Rights and Legal Matters, Opeyemi Bamidele.
Coming under Order 41 and 51, Opeyemi sought to revalidate the mandate of the Senate it had received last week to thoroughly probe the allegations against Mohammad.
14 Justices of the Supreme Court had in a leaked petition last week raised scathing allegations against Mohammed, accusing him of siphoning funds for the welfare of judges and maintenance of courts.
The allegations of the justices prompted the Senate to mandate its Committee on Judiciary to carry out a full scale investigation into the matter.
But mid-way into the panel probe, Mohammed on Sunday resigned from office, citing health grounds and leaving his position to the next most senior judicial officer.
Mohammed’s exit nothwithstanding, Senate on Tuesday granted its Committee on Judiciary permission to continue with the probe a mandate to drive it to a logical conclusion with a view “to finding lasting solution to the matter”.
The Senate however called on the panel to work closely with relevant stakeholders especially in the other arms of government to address the concerns raised.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege in his contribution to the debate, lamented the conditions of service judges are exposed to in Nigeria and how the judiciary is often poorly and unfairly treated when compared to the other two independent arms of government.
The allegations levelled against Justice Mohammed is largely perceived to be damaging to the image of Nigeria’s judiciary and his resignation has evoked similar sentiments that it was designed to provide the former Chief Justice with the proverbial soft landing
Editor Oloyede Oworu
