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| AB Mahmoud, NBA President |
(Being speech delivered by the
President of the Nigerian Bar Association at the valedictory court session in
honour of his lordship the honourable Suleiman Galadima)
Protocol
My Lord,
the Chief Justice of Nigeria
My Lords,
Justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, Judges of
other Superior Courts, Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice, Benchers, Members of the Inner and Utter Bar.
Excellencies,
Royal Fathers
Distinguished
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The
Honourable Justice Suleiman Galadima CFR
I
am truly honoured to have the opportunity to address this Court on the occasion
of this special sitting to mark the retirement of one of this Court’s eminent
jurists, Hon. Justice Suleiman Galadima CFR.
Justice
Galadima begun his judicial career on High Court Bench of Plateau State when he
was appointed as Judge of that Court in May 1991. He served on the bench of
that Court until September, 1996 when he was appointed the Chief Judge of
Nassarawa State in October, 1996 a position he held until December, 1998.
He was elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench on the 9th of December,
1998. Hon. Justice Galadima, joined the Bench of the Supreme Court
in September 2010 and has served with distinction and honour since then for a
period spanning 6 years.
Prior
to Joining the judiciary, Hon. Justice Galadima had served as Attorney General
and Commissioner of Justice in Plateau State. He had also had stint in
various other capacities in the Private Sector. He worked as a technician with
Kirkpatric and Partners, in a private Engineering Consulting Firm in Kaduna, he
was a market research assistant with Lever Brothers, a multinational firm in
Nigeria working in Kaduna and Kano between 1967 and 1968. He was a
Revenue/ Legal Officer with Custom and Excise Department between 1969 and
1975. Between 1976 and 1977 Hon. Justice Galadima served as
Higher Registrar with the High Court of Justice of Plateau State. He also
served as Assistant Legal Aid Leader NYSC, Anambra State and as State Counsel
with the Ministry of Justice in Anambra State.
Hon.
Justice Galadima holds a diploma in law from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, a
Bachelor of laws degree from the same University and a Master of Law Degree
from the University of Jos which he obtained in 1985. He is an alumnus of
the prestigious Government College Keffi.
The
career trajectory of Hon. Justice Galadima has equipped him not only with sound
intellect and depth of learning, but has given him a pragmatic appreciation of
application of the law which he has brought to bear in the course of his
judicial career particularly on the Bench of this Hon. Court. It was as a
Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria that most of Nigeria became acquainted
with his legal erudition, sense of Justice and excellent prose in which his
sound judgments were delivered. Most importantly, Hon. Justice Galadima will be
remembered for his uncompromising inclination to that which is true, just and fair.
Some of the decisions for which Justice Galadima would be remembered that
demonstrate his learning and erudition include Chief Diepriye S.P
Alamieyeseigha v. Hon. Jusitce Emmanuel and Ors. (2007) LPELR 8218; Oketaolegun
vs. State (2015) 13 NWLR (prt. 1477) 538 SC and Suleiman Atago v. Mr. Ibiso
Nwuche & Ors. (2012) LPELR 19656 SC.
Mr.
Justice Galadima is widely traveled and has participated in several
international seminars within and outside Nigeria. He is also a recipient of
many honours and awards such as Achiever Awards 2003, Development Achievers
Gold Award 2007, Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the
Federal Republic (CFR) 2011.
Born
in 1946, Justice Galadima is married and blessed with children; he has as his
hobbies reading, photography, swimming, hunting, farming, gardening, current
affairs, cultural activities, reading of Islamic scriptures and documentary.
I
want to congratulate Hon. Justice Galadima on his retirement after such an
illustrious career. My Lord, on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association, I
wish you a happy retirement. I pray that Almighty Allah will continue to
bless you, preserve you and grant you good health as you continue to contribute
your quota to the development of the country even in these trying times.
Recent
Events In The Judiciary
Speaking
about trying times, My Lord the Hon. Chief Justice, Distinguished ladies and
gentlemen, it may perhaps not be out of place, if I say a few words on the
events that we woke up to two days ago. The events are now well
known. Beginning the night of Friday 7th October, operatives
of the Nigerian Security Services otherwise known as the DSS conducted series
of raids into the homes of the judges of various courts across the country
including the homes of two serving Justices of this Court. The Justices were
taken into custody after several hours of searches. Subsequently, in the
evening of Saturday 8th of October, the DSS held a press conference
justifying its actions. It described the operations as ‘series of sting
operations’ on the basis of ‘allegations of corruption and other acts of
professional misconduct by a few of the suspected judges’. The DSS also
stated that its actions were in line with its core mandate as ‘they have been
monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the Judges.
The
NBA has already issued a statement condemning these actions in the strongest
possible terms. At a press conference which I addressed Saturday
afternoon in Lagos, I condemned the action of the DSS and demanded that
President Muhammadu Buhari calls the security agencies responsible for these
actions to order. We viewed these actions as illegal and unconstitutional
and a threat to the independence of the Judiciary and must be aimed at
intimidating the judiciary and the legal profession. This military style
operations are totally unacceptable in a democratic society. They are
unacceptable against private citizens but even more so against serving justices
of superior courts. Last night the Presidency in a Statement issued by the
Senior Special Media Assistant to the President sought to justify the actions
of the DSS stating : “the recent surgical operations against some
judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not the judiciary
as an institution” The statement went further to say that “The Presidency
has received assurances from the DSS that all due process of the law, including
possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.”
The
NBA rejects these explanations and justifications that these so called surgical
operations were targeted at corruption and not the judiciary. We find it
absurd that the Presidency will accept assurances from DSS that it followed all
due process of the law! We maintain our position that these operations
are illegal and unconstitutional.
I
want to reiterate that the position of Bar Association is not aimed at
protecting any Judge. We are not also shielding any Judges from investigation
from charges of corruption. The resolve of the NBA on the fight against
corruption is unwavering. My views and position on these matters are also too
well known. I have been consistent on my calls for the legal profession
to stand up and fight against corruption both in the Bar and Bench. I
have also called for fundamental changes not only in the way we regulate the
legal profession but in the way we maintain discipline and professional
standards on the Bench. Just recently on 19th September, in
this very court room I made the following remarks:
“On our part, we will continue to be strong advocates of the
greater independence of the judiciary. We will champion its cause.
We will guard its reputation jealously. But that means we will fight even
those within who seek to undermine its reputation. Let me reiterate
what I said in Port Harcourt in my inaugural address on 26th day of
August, 2016. “On the reform of the judiciary, NBA will advocate for
urgent reforms that will reposition our judiciary and equip it to play its
future role. A clean, efficient, knowledgeable, effective and transformative
judiciary is at the foundation of building an orderly, peaceful and prosperous
society. It is the only way we can guarantee the rule of law and an egalitarian
society for our people. The notion that a judge could be bribed either by
a lawyer or litigant is completely obnoxious and unacceptable. In many
countries it is unthinkable! The NBA under my watch will fight judicial
corruption. We shall also make the legal profession unattractive for corrupt
lawyers. We will ensure that the NBA does not become a sanctuary of
miscreant lawyers”.
My
Lord, We fully understand and appreciate the frustration of Nigerians on the
failure of the state to check corruption and consequences of this failure. More
disturbing is that corruption would appear to be making strong inroads into the
nation’s judiciary at all levels. Nevertheless, Nigeria’s secret service
should not and must not be the agency that should take on this and in the
illegal an unorthodox manner they seek to do it. The dangers of this are
replete in history and across the world. This in our view, portends even
greater danger.
Many
colleagues have called me to express concerns about the stand taken by the
NBA. Some are worried that this may be seen as protecting Judges from
investigation in the face of unprecedented and clear failure of the system to
check corruption. Others have drawn my attention that from what is
trending in the social media, we are being portrayed as not taking the side of
the Nigerian people. Let me say that we as leaders of the NBA and indeed
as lawyers will not take our decisions on the basis of what is trending in the
social media nor on opinion polls. We will take decisions, after due
consultation, on the basis of deep and careful reflection, anchored on our
understanding of the law guided by history and the national interest. We are
clear that raiding houses of justices of the Supreme Court in the middle of the
night by masked armed men is not the way to go. We do not accept
it. This portends real danger to Nigeria’s democracy. It is
contrary to all civilized norms and accepted standards. The human
experience, I dare say has not shown that there is any better or sustainable
way to deal with any human problem rather than through rigorous adherence to
due process and the rule of law.
Some
people are trying to draw parallels between our events of two days ago to what
happened in Ghana in 2015 when nearly 32 magistrates and senior judges were
dismissed and disciplined for taking bribes and other charges of
corruption. I want to remind us that the events in Ghana did not follow
overnight Gestapo style operations by the Ghanaian Secret Police. The
events in Ghana unfolded after a painstaking 2 year undercover investigative
journalism by Ghanaian journalist Mr. Anas Aremyaw Anas who gathered evidence
including audio and video evidence supporting the allegations of corruption and
bribery against Ghanaian magistrates and the judges. The evidence was
turned over to the Ghanaian Judicial Council, the equivalent of our National
Judicial Council. The Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Georgina Theordora
Wood quickly took charge came out and assured the Ghanaian people that the
Judicial Council would take ‘prompt and resolute action to redeem the image of
judiciary’. The judicial council set up a five member strong-disciplinary
committee which investigated the allegations against the magistrates while the
cases of the High Court Judges were handled by appropriate impeachment
committees of the judicial council. Attempts to obtain injunctions to
stop the proceedings were dismissed by the Ghanaian High Court. All the
magistrates and judges involved were disciplined by the judicial council.
The
NBA reiterates its demand that the DSS must be restricted to its constitutional
and statutory duties. Its core mandate is guaranteeing internal national
security. It is not its duty to conduct police investigations or arraign and
prosecute cases of corruption. It is not its responsibility to
conduct sting operations on judges for corruption or professional misconduct in
the middle of the night. I once again charge President Muhammadu Buhari
to put a halt to this. Going forward the National Council must take
charge of this process. Urgent steps must be taken to restore confidence
of the Nigerian people in the Nation’s judiciary. I call on my Lord the
Chief Justice to immediately take necessary and urgent steps to set in motion
the process of cleansing the system. On our part we will continue to lend
our full support to this process. I urge our members to remain resolute
and united on this. We must speak with one voice. This is not the
time to be divided.
Turning
back to my Lord Hon. Justice Galadima, reviewing your curriculum vitae, one
line caught my attention: This was what you stated to be your ambition:
“To ensure that the Government and the Governed are subject to the Rule
of Law”. You have no doubt contributed your quota. We may still
have a long way to go as a nation, but I do hope that the events which coincide
with the period of your retirement as Justice of this Court will mark a turning
point in our struggle to enthrone the rule of law in Nigeria.
I
thank you for listening.
God
Bless the Judiciary
God
Bless the Nigerian Bar Association
God
Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria
AB
Mahmoud, OON, SAN
President,
Nigerian
Bar Association
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