Corruption, not Judiciary under attack- Presidency

The recent arrest of some Justices of the Supreme court by the Directorate of State Services, DSS  on allegations of corruption and  professional misconduct, has by no means generated variety of opinions and views.

President Muhammadu Buhari

    In a bid to reassure Nigerians that the government is committed to the rule of law  and has respect for the judiciary, the senior special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement said that President Buhari remains committed to democracy.  And that it is corruption that  is under attack not the judiciary

His statement;

   “The Presidency assures that the President reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government.

To this end, the President will not do anything to undermine its independence.

President Buhari remains a committed democracy, in words and in his actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.

   The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.

In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected. 

But reports by a section of the media are giving us cause for concern.

In undertaking the task of reporting, the media should be careful about the fault lines they open. It is wrong to present this incident as a confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government.

   The Presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.

To suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial manner is to breach the interest of the state.”

   It will be recalled that the DSS on Friday and early hours of Saturday carried out sting operations which involved the searching of residence of some supreme court and high court Justices and eventual arrest of  some of them