National Judicial Council Recommends Sack of 3 Controversial Judges
Posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2013 at 6:28 PMBy Adeola Adeyemo
The National Judicial Council (NJC) today recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan the compulsory retirement of three controversial judges for ethical reasons.
They are Abubakar Talba of a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court , Thomas Naron of High Court of Justice, Plateau State and Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court Lagos.
Talba was the judge who sentenced a self confessed pension thief, Yakubu Yusufu, to two years in prison each on a three-count charge with an option of fine of N250, 000 on each charge.
Yusufu had pleaded guilty to stealing N2 billion of about N30 billion he was charged with by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. He promptly paid the fine and was set free though later arrested and tried on another charge by the commission.
Premium Times reports that the second judge, Naron, was investigated by the NJC for the scandalous ruling he led three other judges to give as the first election petition tribunal in Osun State after the controversial 2007 elections. Naron and the other judges are believed to have been compromised by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government of the then governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Call records later showed that Naron and Oyinlola’s lawyer, Kunle Kaleijaye, were having secret discussions prior to the controversial ruling.
The third Judge, Justice Archibong was sanctioned by the NJC for some scandalous judgements including the case involving the alleged rogue banker, Erastus Akingbola.
The recommendation of their retirement was reached at a meeting presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mariam Mukhtar, at the Supreme Court complex in Abuja.
Tags: Abubakar Talba, Charles Archibong, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Erastus Akingbola, Goodluck Jonathan, Mariam Mukhtar, National Judicial Council, Thomas Naron, Yakubu Yusufu
Fantastic, incredible, excellent, a step in the right direction……
Moreeeeee……. E ti won b ota
Good start but seizing all the loot and bribe money they received from these crooks would have served the purpose. Secondly, the Odili judge and most corrupt justice Marcel of Ibori case deserve to be publicly shot as they do in China. This is the only way to stop corruption in Nigeria. Dismissal would have been better in which case they will lose all. But retirement means they will still collect pension.
lol….i feel you. But on the bright side, i know for a fact that judges are the only public officials left with a sense of shame in nigeria. you don’t know the magnitude of this compulsory retirement…as little as it seems..baby steps!!
What should have been done years ago, just clicking to their head ba. We thank God for Open Heavens!!
Wonderful news..no more business as usual for judicial crooks. Hope they implement these recommendations though
Great! Now I can sleep well @ nite.
Right step. These Judges should be jailed in addition to serve as a deterrent to other corrupt Judges.
This is fantastic news!
This is a way forward,i like that….