Knocks over Wike’s house gifts for judges

The move by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike to construct 40 housing units in the Katampe District of the FCT for judges has ignited condemnation from Nigerians.

The 40 housing units, according to Wike, were for judicial officers of the Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, and FCT High Court.

The minister, who said that 70 percent of the project’s budget, which covers furnishing has been provided, added that the contractor was expected to hand over the completed project in 15 months, stressing that the gesture, was part of ongoing efforts to improve the welfare of judicial officers in the country in line with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said that Tinubu was working tirelessly to ensure the independence of the judiciary, through improved welfare packages and conditions of service.

The former Rivers State governor said that another condition of service that was very critical in insulating the judiciary from interference and manipulation by the executive and legislative arms of government was housing.

“With that, it will be difficult for anybody to manipulate or interfere with their duties. When you have a home, what are you afraid of?

“When you know that salaries and allowances will be paid when you retire when you know that your tenure of office is guaranteed, anybody would be firm, anybody would be courageous to do his or her work,” he said.

“President said it is not every time that we talk about the independence of the judiciary. We must show in practice; we must show in action that we are indeed not saying so but we are doing so, for people to see that we are seriously doing that.

“Mr. President said we must at all times provide housing. But that can only be better if you have an owner occupier, so that every judge will know that at the end of the day, as I’m retiring from office; I have my own home,” Wike stated.

Reacting to this move, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, asked the FCT Minister and 36 state governors to stop giving cars and houses to judges.

According to SERAP, Wike and the governors are usurping the authority and responsibilities of the National Judicial Council, NJC, by giving cars and houses to judges.

In a statement by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said it shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel Tinubu’s government and the attorneys general of the 36 states to comply with the organization’s request in the public interest.

“Politicians ought to keep their hands off the judiciary and respect and protect its integrity and independence. Politicians must treat judges with dignity and respect.

“The Nigerian Constitution and international standards make clear that the judiciary is neither subservient to the executive nor the legislature.

“Undermining the fundamental principle of separation of powers risks constraining the power of the judiciary to act as a check on the executive.

“Your government has the constitutional and international obligations to promote public confidence in the judiciary and safeguard the rule of law,” SERAP said.

Also, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, condemned the move, labeling it a blatant example of the executive’s political capture of the judiciary.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, called on the National Assembly to urgently pass legislation prohibiting judges from receiving such perks from the executive, stressing that the judiciary’s independence is non-negotiable and must be fiercely protected to uphold the rule of law in Nigeria.

“This is a dangerous precedent. When judges are given lands and houses by the executive, a conflict of interest compromises their independence. The allocation of Abuja lands as political patronage to judges is a trap designed to ensure their loyalty to the executive.

“The National Assembly must act to protect our democracy. We need laws that prevent judges from accepting gifts like land allocations from the executive. These gifts are not acts of generosity; they are political tools meant to manipulate the judiciary.

“We have witnessed courts interfering in the internal affairs of political parties, issuing conflicting rulings that throw the political system into chaos. This cannot continue. The judiciary should be the last hope of the common man, not a tool for politicians to disrupt governance and elections,” HURIWA said.

On his part, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, said it is wrong for the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike to give judges houses and cars, arguing that the FCT Minister operates like a state governor by section 299 of the Constitution, which prohibits him doing certain things.

“The minister cannot say I am going to build 40 houses, 10 shall go to the federal high court, 10 shall go to judges in the FCT high court and 10 shall go to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, no.

“Because you are a minister of the Federal Government like a state governor your budget is limited to the affairs of the FCT.

“So, you cannot as the head of the FCT be dishing out gifts of cars, and houses to judges in the federal high court, in the Appeal Court, and the Supreme Court.

“Number two, you have cases before these courts, on the theory of equality before the court you cannot be seen to be giving cars or houses to the judges who are going to determine your cases,” he said.

the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, said it is improper for the FCT Minister to build houses for judges, especially when he has a case in court, stressing that he wants to use it to pocket the judges.

Ifoh stated that the judiciary has its budget which would cater for all judicial officers, describing the gesture of the executive arm as overreaching.

He condemned in totality the action of the FCT minister, charging the judges to reject the offer or be seen as biased judges who would in the future compromise in their constitutional role.

“Even though Wike has come out to say that he’s not in any way using it to induce the judges, but, if you give me a house today, there is nothing you will ask me that I will not do for you.

“If these judges rented buildings or houses, it is within their capacity and budget to make those things available for them and not for the executive arm to begin to do things that will be considered as overreaching to the extent that the judges will be getting these kinds of privileges from the executive.

“I think what the FCT minister has done is wrong and it should not be condoned. And as a matter of fact, those judges should reject the gifts because if they don’t, they have collected the forbidden fruit in the eye of the public,” he stated.

An Abuja-based human rights lawyer, Maxwell Okpara queried the rationale behind the move, lamenting the lack of potable water and school classrooms in some parts of the FCT.

While describing the action as a misplaced priority, Okpara said the judiciary is not an orphan but has its budgetary allocation that would meet the needs of its personnel, accusing the minister of having the ulterior motive of pocketing the judges to pervert justice in his favour.

“How can they build houses for the judges? Does the judiciary not have its budget?

“How can you use money meant for the development of the FCT for another project off your jurisdiction, where some communities in Abuja need potable water and classrooms in some schools?” He queried.