DISGRACED Federal High Court
judge, Justice Charles Efanga Archibong, has petitioned President Goodluck
Jonathan to restore him to the position from which the president compulsorily
retired him last Monday.
In the petition, which was copied
to Chief Justice of the Federation, the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the judge claimed unfair hearing and
miscarriage of justice against him by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
He specifically asked the
President to rescind/withdraw acceptance/approval of the NJC’s recommendation
that he be compulsorily retired as judge of the Federal High Court.
The judge’s troubles started last
year when two petitions were written against him to the NJC.
In the first petition, Chief J.B
Dauda, one of the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, complained that Justice
Archibong had dismissed, without a plea or considering the gravamen of the
charges preferred, the grievious charge of criminal infractions against Dr.
Erastus Akingbola, former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc.
Some of the alleged breaches were
fraudulent conversion, obtaining by false pretense, money laundering, market
manipulation, loan scam, and fraudulent and wrongful trading of securities,
amounting to N346,185,841,243.75 and £10,925,649.58.
The judge also reportedly made
some pronouncement on the professional competence of the prosecuting team of
six Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), comprising Damien Dodo, A.B Mahmoud,
Kola Awodein, Konyinsola Ajayi, E.C Ukala and J.B Daudu.
In the second petition by Chief
Olajide Ajana, counsel for a faction of PDP in Ogun State, the judge was
alleged to have issued a Bench Warrant against respondents that were not served
the contempt application before him (judge) and for granting the main reliefs
in an application that was not moved ex parte.
Following the petitions, the then
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, asked for Justice
Archibong’s comments, which he gave in July 2012.
The judge said he exercised his
discretion to terminate proceedings in the case against Dr. Akingbola due to
lack of diligent prosecution by the counsel, who, “for the umpteenth time in
three years sought leave to amend charges.”
“The Prosecution Team’s response
to each challenge was an application to further amend charges,” the judge said.
“In point of fact, at the time I
terminated proceedings, the prosecution had effectively been permitted to
withdraw the existing charges yet again, declined to present fresh charges but
rather decided to embark on an appeal specifically prohibited by provisions of
the EFCC Act.”
In any case, Justice Archibong
stated that the order disbanding the team was made on the Attorney General of
the Federation, adding that, “any talk of the judge frustrating an appeal by
counsel of the Prosecution Team is totally baseless.”
He said he did not discharge
Akingbola, as widely suggested, as the accused’s properties were still attached
by the State.
“The effort to get Akingbola to
give an account of his stewardship of his Bank was simply frustrated by the
prosecution team’s incompetence, an uncomfortable but very self-evident fact,”
he said.
On Chief Ajana’s petition,
Justice Archibong said the counsel “represented serial contemnors” and that his
petition should be discarded “without much ado.”
Perhaps, not content with mere
written response to the allegations, he specifically asked to be granted
audience by the NJC, noting that the petitioners were people who could make
representations, written and unwritten, formal and informal at various levels;
a privilege he did not have as a judge.
The NJC Investigation Committee
did not grant him (or any of the parties) the privilege of appearing before it
to defend the allegations against him.
However, the three-member
committee, headed by the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice I. Hwande, sat on
Wednesday, November 21, 2012, to consider the case.
Noting that, “all facts were
complete with regard to the submission by the Petitioners and the response by
the Judge,” the committee decided not to invite the parties, “as it had
sufficient evidence before it to deliberate on the matter.”
And having looked at the
petitions and the response of Justice Archibong, the Investigation Committee
formulated eight issues for determination, including the reported discharging
of Akingbola without taken his plea; the judge describing the prosecuting
lawyers as indolent and incompetent, and a drain on public purse; his alleged
refusal to release the Certified True Copy of his ruling to the EFCC; issuance
of arrest warrant on parties without due service on the parties; and whether
the judge was in order in dismissing application that was never heard on the
ground of incompetence.
The committee eventually
found Justice Archibong culpable in all but one allegation, which is that,
“from available records, it was not established that the Judge called in
Journalists into his chambers, as alleged in the petition,” by availing them of
his handwritten note and telling them the names of the Senior Advocates of
Nigeria he was referring to as being incompetent, indolent and drain on public
purse.
In conclusion, the Investigation
Committee recommended only a warning to and supervision of Justice Archibong.
It said: “From the totality of
evidence before the Committee as gleaned from the records, we are satisfied
that the Judge misconducted himself in his utterances and conduct of cases
before him.
“We therefore recommend that he
be warned seriously to henceforth conduct himself with decorum and to upgrade
his knowledge of the law. In addition, his Head of Court should closely monitor
him and ascertain the type of cases he assigns to him.”
Nonetheless, Justice Archibong
wondered why his own complaint to the Privileges Committee of the NJC, as
regards the conduct of the prosecutors, was not considered, stressing, “the NJC
treated my complaint as a non-issue and decided to not only put me on trial,
but joined in the campaign of calumny waged by my accusers.”
He dismissed the NJC’s labeling
him as “lacking a full grasp of the law and procedure of the Court,” stating
that only last month (February 2013), the Performance Evaluation and Monitoring
Committee of the same NJC gave him a commendation in writing.
Still, at an emergency meeting on
February 20, 2013, the NJC, alluding to the report of the Investigation
Committee, suspended Justice Archibong from office and recommended to President
Jonathan to compulsorily retirement him from office.
Part of the letter of the same day,
signed by the CJN and Chairman of the NJC, Justice Mukhtar, reads:
“After the investigation, the
committee, before which you (Archibong) appeared and was heard, submitted a
report to the National Judicial Council, which was deliberated upon… After deliberation,
Council accepted the ‘Findings’ of the committee and had accordingly
recommended your compulsory retirement to the President of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria.
“Consequently, acting pursuant to
the powers conferred on it under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria, as amended, the Council decided to suspend you with immediate
effect from office as a Judge of the Federal High Court, pending when the
President will act on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.”
Commenting on the punishment
meted out to him, Justice Archibong likened the Chief Justice to the committee
that investigated him without interviewing or hearing from any of the parties
at issue.
He accused the CJN of not only
denying him the right of fair hearing, “she obviously subverted the whole
process and lied to the President that I had appeared before her committee ‘and
was heard.’”
“I do not know what the CJN’s
agenda is but she has denied a serving Judge of this Federal Republic of
Nigeria fair hearing, and subverted due process, engaging in constitutional
infractions aplenty,” the judge said.
Justice Archibong accused the NJC
of ignorance of the law by equating “error with misconduct.”
His word: “They (NJC) have
displayed ignorance of the law and mischievously equated error with misconduct,
obviously to satisfy whatever aims and objectives they were pursuing.
“Certainly not to ensure
equitable and clean dispensation of justice by humans not tainted by fear or
favour, not guided by the imperatives other than those dictated by the oath of
judicial office.”
The judge said the NJC endorsed
the committee’s efforts, “confusing the number of petitions against me, a very
busy Judge with a large docket of cases, with the veracity of the claims
contained therein, the merits of any defence regardless.”
Justice Archibong said the CJN
jettisoned the recommendation of the investigating committee (which was a
‘warning’) and “unilaterally superimposed the ultimate draconian sanction of
‘compulsory retirement’ in her characteristic, dictatorial manner at any
meeting, which she called...”
Therefore, his humble appeal to
Jonathan is: “I petition Mr. President to rescind/withdraw the
acceptance/approval of the NJC’s recommendation that I be retired compulsorily
as a Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria.”
Source: Guardian
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