By Ayo Kehinde
Mr Diego Garcia-Sayan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, on Monday, said that only an independent authority has the right to suspend or remove a judge from office.
Garcia-Sayan who made the statement in the twiiter handel of the organization referred to the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari as a gross violation of court and judicial processes. Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen was suspended on 25 January 2019 and replaced by Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammad.
According to Garcia-Sayan in the twitter message “International human rights standards provide that judges may be dismissed only on serious grounds of misconduct or incompetence. Any decision to suspend or remove a judge from office should be fair and should be taken by an independent authority such as a judicial council or a court,”
“The dismissal of judges without following procedures laid down by the law and without effective judicial protection being available to contest the dismissal is incompatible with the independence of the judiciary,” said Garcia-Sayan.
President Buhari said he had acted on an ex-parte motion on notice, in compliance with an order issued two days earlier by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials.
Reacting to this , Garcia-Sayan said; “All State institutions must abide by the decisions of national courts and tribunals. In the case of Chief Justice Onnoghen, four national courts hierarchically superior to the Code of Conduct Tribunal had already ordered a stay of proceedings, and the Tribunal had in a previous case, eight months earlier, held that it lacked jurisdiction over cases involving judicial officers, which should be processed by the National Judicial Council.”
He said allegations of intimidation and harassment of judges representing the suspended Chief Justice was disturbing: “I am seriously concerned at such allegations, which may constitute, if proven, grave attacks to the independence of the judiciary and the free exercise of the legal profession,”
“One of the senior advocates defending the Chief Justice was arrested on Wednesday by security agencies. Lawyers play an essential role in securing access to justice, and should never suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or other sanctions for action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics,” Mr. García-Sayán, concluded.
