The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Alooma Mukhtar, has
promised that the National Judicial Council (NJC) look into the
controversy surrounding the questionable judgement delivered by Justice
Abubakar Talba of the Abuja High Court in the conviction of a self-confessed
pension thief, Yakubu Yusufu.
The CJN made the pledge through the chief registrar of the
Supreme Court, Mr. Sunday Olorundahunsi, when two groups, the Anti-Corruption
Network and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), led a protest
march to the Supreme Court in Abuja yesterday.
The CJN said that there was the need ‘to take appropriate
action’ on the matter in order to reassure the public that the judiciary
remained the last hope of the common man.
The protest letter of the groups was accepted by Olorundahunsi
behalf of the CJN.
Justice Talba gave the controversial judgement last Monday
when he sentenced the former director of Police Pension Board to a
two-year sentence on each of the three-count charge with an option of paying a
fine N750,000, a sum the convict promptly paid and regained his freedom.
The development was sequel to the guilty plea where Yusufu admitted that he
stole N23billion from the police pension funds.
But the Anti-Corruption Network and NANS, in a joint peaceful
protest yesterday, threatened to unleash an Egyptian-like protest within 14
days if nothing was done to remedy the situation.
The procession, which was led by a former member of House of
Representatives, Dino Melaye, in company of NANS president, Yinka Gbadebo, and
ex-president of West African Students Union (WASU), Daniel Onjeh, started at
11:36am at the office of the attorney-general and minister of justice, where
the protesters delivered a letter of protest entitled: ‘Travesty of Justice and
Mockery of Judiciary By Justice Abubakar Talba.’
The police and other security men at the entrance of the
Ministry of Justice barricaded the premises, which led to a mild drama where
Melaye jumped the fence to register his displeasure with a police officer who
had earlier given a no-entry order, resulting in an altercation between the duo
after which the protesters proceeded to the Supreme Court complex.
But Melaye, who described Justice Talba’s judgement as
‘satanic’, demanded, among others, a re-trial of the pension theft culprit,
investigation of Justice Talba, eradication of plea bargain - which he
described as archaic - and the entrenchment of Chinese-type capital punishment
where the cost of the execution is paid by the family of the culprit.
The two organisations, according to Melaye, were also giving the
CJN a period of 14 days to act, and it failed the protesters would return to
occupy the Supreme Court.
The protest march, which ended at the Supreme Court premises,
had the protesters carrying placards with various inscriptions like:
‘Judiciary: Hope of the Highest Bidder’, ‘Judicial Corruption our Major
Problem’, ‘Jankara Judgement for Pension Thief’, ‘N23bn = N750,000 Talbanism’,
‘CJN Investigate Talba’ just as they chanted ‘Injustice Talba Ole.’
Source: Leadership
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