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Adamawa State Speaker’s Harassment of a Judge is a Reprehensible Threat to the Independence of the Judiciary.

The Nigerian polity is weary of the wanton disregard for constitutional provisions and due process evinced by different state legislatures in their, often selfish, bid to impeach their state Executives. The unfolding drama in Adamawa State involving the Speaker of the House of Assembly and a judge in that state is particularly disturbing and may have serious implications, if not checked properly and promptly.

Following the impeachment proceedings initiated against Governor Boni Haruna of Adamawa State, 11 lawmakers of the State House of Assembly instituted an action in the High Court in Suit No. ADSY/16/2007 against the Speaker of the House Hon. Abdullahi
Abubakar, the State Chief Judge, Justice Bamare Bansi and 13 other lawmakers.

The suit was challenging the impeachment procedure and was before Hon. Justice Ambrose Mammadi. However, when the case came up for hearing on Thursday 1st March 2007, the Honorable Justice Ambrose Mammadi declined to go on with the matter and alleged that he was being harassed, blackmailed and intimidated by the Speaker. The Speaker had before this time written a letter dated 27th February 2007 to the Chief judge, who is also a defendant in the matter, asking him to transfer the case from Justice Mammadi’s court to any other judge of the High Court on the grounds of his “loss of confidence” in Justice Mammadi’s ability to do justice in the case.

Access to Justice totally condemns the conduct of the Speaker, in allegedly trying to intimidate Justice Ambrose Mammadi, as a reprehensible threat to the independence of the judiciary and an undue interference with the administration of justice. This is the reason: A judge should exercise the judicial function independently on the basis of the judge’s assessment of the facts and in accordance with a conscientious understanding of the law, free of any extraneous influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interference, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.
An independent judiciary is integral to upholding rule of law. The judiciary and its officers must be independent of systemic influences from other arms of government. They must maintain their independence and act as a check against the power of the other two branches of government. Any pressure brought to bear on them by politicians is reprehensible, intolerable and deleterious to a democratic system. Each arm of government must therefore exercise responsibility and restraint in the exercise of its power within its own constitutional sphere so as not to encroach on the judiciary’s legitimate discharge of its constitutional functions.
While we do not question the Chief Judge’s powers to transfer the case from Justice Mammadi’s Court, we nevertheless warn of the need to be circumspect in the circumstances. It should never seem that the legislature determines which judge gets to hear what case and when. That would be an absolute negation of the principles of separation of powers.

Moreover, there is a plethora of decided authorities on the fact that a party demanding that a case should be transferred from one judge to another should not get it just for the asking; rather he must show strong and cogent reasons warranting such transfer. The Courts have refused to accept that once a party wants a transfer he should automatically be granted such a relief, as this would create a position that would render the courts ineffective as the other party could reject such choice and the circle would go on endlessly to the detriment of justice. Furthermore, a judge may be disqualified from sitting in a matter in two situations, (a) where there is direct pecuniary interest in the subject matter (b) where there is bias in favour of one side or against the other. The case of Agumobia v. Uwais (2007) All FWLR part 346 p 440 is very instructive on this point, and it is doubtful that any of these circumstances exist in the Adamawa situation.

Against this background, Access to Justice decries the conduct of the Speaker as undermining the rule of law, the separation of powers, independence of the judiciary and true democratic values. We enjoin the leadership of the Judiciary to guard against such affront and potential encroachment on the independence of the Judiciary. We also encourage the Adamawa State Chief Judge, Justice Bamare Bansi to stand strong and defend judicial independence and integrity by declining the request of the Speaker.

Sign
Chinedu Yves Nwagu Esq.
Legal Programme Attorney