Since the Code of Conduct Tribunal(CCT) discharged Nigeria’s senate President in a case of false declaration of assets.I have listened and read comments and opinions of some Nigerians on the ruling delivered yesterday by CCT in the case of the Senate President, the reactions of some Nigerians especially some respected senior lawyers and SANs were shocking to me and showed lack of understanding of how judicial system works, sentiments and mischievous nature of some Nigerians, particularly some respected and senior lawyers and SANs. Some of them, particularly the lawyers, rather than examine the ruling based on law, they were carried away by sentiments or may be they were playing to the gallery or merely being mischievous at the expense of the integrity of some judges and national interest as a whole.
Some of them, including the senior lawyers and SANs blamed the CJN and the judiciary for the ruling, as if the CJN was the one who delivered the ruling or may be they were expecting the CJN to direct or order the tribunal Chairman to act in a particular way to gain support of the masses or to support the expectations or perceptions or thinking of the public or media without due regards to the evidences BEFORE THE COURT.
Some of them believed that the ruling came about because of lack of cooperation by the judiciary forgetting that conviction can only be secured in court having regards to the evidence BEFORE THE COURT and NOT evidence available before the PUBLIC OR IN THE MEDIA.
Some of them equally failed to realised that CCB & CCT are under the control of the EXECUTIVE and NOT the JUDICIARY. Rather than blame the executive and its agencies for failing to do the needful, they condemned the CJN and the entire judiciary.
Coming to the case at hand, a situation where proper investigation and relevant evidence were not presented BEFORE THE COURT, a situation where the evidence of the prosecution witnesses are contradictory, a situation where after every cross examination of the prosecution witnesses the prosecution will amend its charges on the grounds that he wanted to aligned its charges with its evidence thereby admitting its errors or agreeing with the Defendant that the evidence adduced cannot support the charge BEFORE THE COURT, should we expect the tribunal Chairman to believe the case of the prosecution having regards to the facts that our law place the burden of proof on the prosecution and that any doubt in the prosecution’s case MUST be resolved in favour of the accused or the defendant, should the tribunal in the circumstances do otherwise?.
I advise Nigerians to understand the working of the system and not to make comments on issues not clear to them or which they know little or nothing about, particularly matters relating to law.
I advise our learned colleagues and respected senior lawyers and SANs to stop making comments induced by sentiments in an attempts to play to the gallery or to gain public recognition thereby destroying our institutions and hard earned integrity of some honest and hard working judges.
GOD BLESS NIGERIA.
Tunji Abdulhameed Esq.
