CJN ONNOGHEN MUST FACE TRIAL

18^th January, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

CJN ONNOGHEN MUST FACE TRIAL

More than 45 legal luminaries represented the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal on Monday, 14th January 2019. The CJN himself was not in court. Onnoghen is facing allegation of false declaration of assets.


Meanwhile an Islamic human rights organization, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has insisted that the CJN must face trial. According to the group, the evidence is too overwhelming and the onus is on the CJN to prove whether he did it or not. MURIC stated this in a statement issued on Friday, 18th January, 2019. The statement was signed by the director of the organization, Professor Ishaq Akintola.


“The question Nigerians want the CJN to answer is ‘Did you do it or not?’ He needs to clear himself. This grandstanding is not reassuring. We have lost faith in the CJN as the symbol of justice in this country. Instead of answering that simple question and defending himself at the CCT, the CJN is resorting to technical escapism.


“The ordinary man in the street may not know law, but he knows about morals. He can distinguish between decency and moral debauchery. He knows the difference between integrity and immorality. The CJN should know that this is not a matter for playing around with legal entanglements.


“He occupies a position of trust. The Nigerian people entrusted him with the whole judicial system. He has betrayed their trust. A million SANs defending him cannot prove otherwise unless he can convince us that those extremely scandalising lodgements were not in his bank accounts.


“He must step down because this issue is not about him personally but about his hallowed office and about Nigeria. It will continue to be a stain on the judiciary as long as he insists on remaining in office. He has to save that office by stepping down or staying put and staining it forever.

“Those who argue that the CJN should first appear before the National Judicial Council (NJC) have failed to realize that the composition of the NJC where more than 60% of the members were appointed by the same CJN makes that option illogical and unacceptable to the Nigerian people. The CJN is the chairman of the NJC and it is morally wrong for him to sit in judgment over his own case.

“Should we then say that every Nigerian worker who commits a criminal offence should first appear before the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)? Should we also rule that such a worker shall not appear in court unless NLC pronounces him guilty? Should every teacher be tried first by the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT)? Should every nurse who has a criminal case be tried first by the Nursing Council? What kind of protectionism is that? This is a policy that will never earn professionals a scintilla of respect from members of the public.   

“Why do you think the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) stood aside and allowed a whole professor to face a case of sex for marks and to go to jail without intervening? It is outstanding sense of decency. Your colleague is part of you as long as he observes the ethics of the profession. He must be allowed to face the music the moment he behaves unprofessionally. We must not get involved in unholy camaraderie.

“It is only in Nigeria that we insist that a known thief is being victimized because we worship in the same shrine. We threaten hell and brimstone that the country will be made ungovernable whenever our kleptomaniac kinsman is caught red-handed. We idolize the demons among us yet we expect things to work. We are suffering from massive pathological obfuscation of all sense of justice, fairness and equity.   

“As far as ordinary Nigerians are concerned, 45 SANs defending the CJN is meaningless to them because they know that what those SANs are out to achieve is to use the technicalities of law to shelter the CJN, being one of them. This is one of the major problems with us in Nigeria. If a thief is one of us, did he steal for us? Did we send him to go and steal? We must allow him to defend himself if we know nothing of his crime. The law profession is a noble one. We should not allow Nigerians to impugn the integrity of highly revered SANs.

“That courtroom show of numerical strength is sheer judicial intimidation. They were not out to prove that he did not do it. It was a show of impunity. Unfortunately Nigerians are more interested in whether he did it or not.  If he did it, he should quit. If he did not, we are not keen on punishing an innocent man. The honourable thing for the CJN to do therefore is to go to CCT and defend himself. We will take nothing less in the face of overwhelming evidence. Only those who have something to hide refuse to face trial.

“Neither do we have any modicum of respect for any individual, group or political party that stands up to rationalize massive stealing. It is interesting that the only political party that is showing interest in prosecuting the CJN over suspicion of judicial graft is the ruling party. It is equally interesting that the party’s main manifesto is fighting corruption.

The main opposition party appears to be on a familiar terrain in its defense of the CJN. It all boils down to one thing: Nigerians will be judged by whose interest they promote and by who they protect. It is either you stand with stealing and looting or you pitch your camp with decency and integrity  

However, if it is all about restoring faith in the judiciary and returning Nigeria to the comity of sane nations, we have no choice than to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to do everything within his power to ensure that the rule of law prevails. The president must protect poor Nigerians from the looting cabal.

If indeed Nigeria is practicing democracy, then nobody, including the CJN, must be above the law. Onnoghen must face trial at the CCT.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

STOP MESSING UP WITH THE QUR’AN - MURIC TELLS POLITICAL PARTIES

17^th January, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

STOP MESSING UP WITH THE QUR’AN

-  MURIC TELLS POLITICAL PARTIES

A Muslim group has issued a warning to Nigeria’s prominent political parties to stop messing up with the divine book of Islam.


The warning was contained in a press release issued on Thursday, 17th January, 2019 by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC). According to the Islamic human rights outfit, a certain “prominent” political party in the country is fond of using the Qur’an in its political rallies without following laid down rules. MURIC described this as laughable, provocative and totally unacceptable.



“Our office has been inundated with a Tsunami of complaints about a prominent political party that has been abusing the use of the Qur’an in its political rallies. Such an attitude exposes the political party as a body that is insensitive to the feelings of Muslims. It is laughable, provocative and totally unacceptable.


“Exempli gratia, we are in possession of a video clip in which a notorious lawmaker cum comedian who is obviously a non-Muslim recited the Surat Al-Fatihah (chapter one of the Glorious Qur’an) wrongly in one of the party’s rallies about two weeks ago. The question is why was a non-Muslim allowed to recite an Islamic prayer using verses of the Glorious Qur’an in a political rally?


“We don’t want to be misunderstood. Anybody can pray but decorum must be applied when doing that in public. It is most unwise for a non-Muslim to venture into praying in Arabic when he is not sure he can do it well. A Muslim should offer the Muslim prayer and vice versa. Prayer is a serious spiritual exercise. It is communication between the creature and the Creator. It is not something you can trivialize. But what we saw on that day was the transfer of the usual parliamentary theatricals that has been associated with the National Assembly in recent times.


“In another trending video, a woman was seen struggling with the recitation of Surat Ash-Sharh (Qur’an chapter 94) at another rally of the same political party. She ended it all by mixing up the verses and wordings.


“MURIC is not just raising false alarm or sounding unnecessarily demagogic. The fact is that the implications of reciting a verse or chapter of the Glorious Qur’an wrongly in an attempt to offer prayers are very serious. An inexperienced reciter may end up raining curses instead of offering prayers due to errors of pronounciation, wording or incorrect reading of verses. This can be terrible in a rally organized by a political party because instead of actually praying for the country and the political party, the person may end up inadvertently cursing the party and the country (may Allah forbid that).


“That is why political parties need to have religious advisers among its officials. Such religious advisers must be made up of qualified Christian and Islamic clerics. They are the ones who should be called upon to offer prayers in public programmes, not parliamentary rascals whose only value lies in their capacity to constitute public nuisance.


“We like to place it on record for public awareness that the rules guiding the recitation of Christian and Islamic scriptures are different and the yardsticks of one should not be used to judge the other. For instance, a person wishing to recite any portion of the Glorious Qur’an must first perform ablution. The rule is that you cannot read the Qur’an if you are not pure. The Qur’an itself set the rule when it says ‘Only those who are clean can touch it. It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds’ (Laa yamusuhu ilaa al-mutaharuun, tanziilun min Rabbil-aalamiin, Qur’an 56:79 - 80).

“The recitation made by the woman at that political event is also contentious from another angle. Apart from the fact that she may not have performed ablution, she may not be clean. She may be in her menstrual period and Islam does not permit women to do such things in that state. That is one of the reasons Muslim women are not usually called upon to read the Qur’an in public. She does not have to make her condition public and this may happen if she is so invited.

“In conclusion, we charge political parties to demonstrate seriousness in spiritual matters. We also advise political parties to consult their religious advisers before taking any step that has spiritual implication. We urge all churches and mosques to pray for a peaceful general election and a stable polity thereafter”.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

MURIC HIGHLIGHTS THE DANGER IN JUDICIAL CORRUPTION

16^th January, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC HIGHLIGHTS THE DANGER IN JUDICIAL CORRUPTION

As the Federal Government asks the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, to vacate office and he is to face charges at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has highlighted the dangers inherent in judicial corruption.


The Islamic human rights organization highlighted the dangers in a statement released on Wednesday, 16th January, 2019. The statement was signed by its director and founder, Professor Ishaq Akintola. 

“Judicial corruption fuels impunity. It is the worst type of corruption because that is where we go when the system is corrupt. Any nation whose judicial system is led by corrupt judges is sitting on the precipice. Judicial corruption should not be tolerated in any sane society. It corrodes the rule of law. It is a cancerous tumour in any nation’s anatomy and any surgeon worth the salt will not hesitate to amputate a cancerous part of the body in order to save the rest.  

“Judicial corruption enthrones corrupt politicians in political offices. It robs hardworking, honest and credible politicians of well-deserved victory at the polls. Judicial corruption is the deadliest enemy of democracy. It debilitates the rule of law, renders equal rights unattainable and puts asunder any dream of an egalitarian society. Judiciary is the last hope of the common man and a corrupt judge dashes the hope of the ordinary citizen.

“A corrupt judiciary poses the most potent threat to crime fighters like policemen, anti-corruption agencies, anti-graft activists, human rights activists, etc. The efforts of these patriotic elements who put their lives on the line for the sake of society will be in vain if the judiciary is corrupt. Corrupt judges frustrate the efforts of crime fighters. A corrupt judiciary emboldens criminals and corrupt people as they always know that they can bribe their way out in court.

“Nobody can wipe out corruption where the judiciary itself is enmeshed in dirty deals. It is like pouring water inside a basket in an attempt to fill it up. A hundred bucketfuls cannot achieve that. That is why MURIC is sounding this note of warning. Allow FG to handle the case of the CJN now before it infects the whole system.

“Something is wrong with us as a people if we want to defend a chief judge who made five different cash deposits of $10,000 each into Standard Chartered Bank Account 1062650 on 8th March 2011; made two separate cash deposits of $5000 each on 7th June 2011 followed by four cash deposits of $10,000 each on the same day. Again on 27th June 2011, Justice Onnoghen made another set of five separate cash deposits of $10,000 each and made four more cash deposits of $10,000 each on the following day, 28th June 2011. Are the rest of us who are poor Nigerians created to shine his shoes and lick his boots?

“MURIC is concerned because Islam abhors materialism. What is a judge doing with so much money when 80 million fellow citizens are wallowing in abject penury? Can we take any accumulated wealth to the grave? Do we know when our time will be up? Where are those before us who stole all the milk and honey in the land?

The Muslim Rights Concern is concerned because even if all public office holders are accumulating wealth unjustly, the chief judge of the land must be above board like Caesar’s wife. The Qur’an says all the wealth in this world cannot make a man live forever (104:1-9; 102:1-8). Umar bin Khattab insisted that governors appointed by him must declare their assets immediately they are appointed and immediately after leaving office.

All these are allegations made in the petition written against him by a lawyer human rights activist and instead of the judge to deny them he claims to have forgotten to declare them in his asset declaration. If ignorance of the law is no excuse, what do we call this claim of forgetfulness made by the numero uno lawman of the federation? Justice Onnoghen should resign immediately if there is any decency left in him.  

This is definitely not the ideal symbol of justice a nation can be proud of. We are making a mockery of the bench if high-ranking lawyers bend over backwards to defend the indefensible in this case. We seem to be unable to face the truth in this society. Other countries are making progress by punishing corrupt judges. Who did this to Nigeria?

“In China, Huang Songyou, a former Chinese supreme court judge was jailed for life after being convicted of embezzlement and receiving nearly £500,000 in bribes. Another judge, Wang Suyi was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for bribery.  Indonesia's corruption court sentenced one of the country's top judges to eight years in prison for taking bribes in January 2017.

“In Pakistan, a five-member panel of judges ruled that Justice Patrialis Akbar was guilty of receiving thousands of dollars from a meat importer to influence the outcome of a judicial review of the law on animal husbandry. Mark Ciavarella, a corrupt judge in the United States was sent to 28 years in June 2018 for selling kids to private prisons while Munir Patel, an ordinary British court clerk was sentenced to four years in prison in 2011 for receiving £100,000 bribe because Britain will not stomach corruption in its criminal justice system.

“The choice is ours, whether to deal decisively with corrupt judges in order to instill discipline in the judiciary or to allow tribal jingoism, acrobatic religiousity and articulated political sentiment to override our objectivity.

For the avoidance of doubts, we assert clearly, categorically and unequivocally that MURIC will continue to support this regime not because the president is a Muslim (he is not the only Muslim candidate anyway) or because of his political leaning but because the president has unassailable integrity and because this is the only regime that has made fighting corruption its cardinal focus.

“We are also not unaware of the personal risks involved, they are simply part of the hazards of human rights activism. We are prepared to do even more in the interest of our dear country and in defense of Allah-given fundamental human rights of Nigerian Muslims and the rest of its citizens.

On a last note, we reiterate that Justice Onnoghen is a clog in the wheel of justice. Wailers should allow the law to take its due course. It is most dangerous for Nigeria to approach a general election with a jaundiced judicial system. The Nigerian people have lost confidence in him. He should resign without delay”.

  

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)

MURIC APPEALS TO ASUU TO CALL OFF STRIKE

15^th January, 2019

PRESS RELEASE:

MURIC APPEALS TO ASUU TO CALL OFF STRIKE

An appeal has gone to the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) to call off its lingering strike. ASUU embarked on the ongoing industrial action on 5th November, 2018. The strike has entered its third month.


Making the appeal on Tuesday, 15th January, 2019, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said ASUU leadership should consider the state of the nation and the plight of the students.

According to the director and founder of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola who signed the statement, “the Federal Government (FG) has demonstrated goodwill by offering a part-payment. It may be considered a small amount but when viewed against the background of this administration’s commitment to infrastructural development, falling oil prices and the recession Nigeria has just passed through, ASUU needs to exhibit more understanding.

“This regime should not be punished for the sins of all past administrations. In the past ten years for instance, the education sector received a paltry N3.5 trillion out of N55.19 trillion of the annual budgets. ASUU is therefore fighting a just cause, but the union must know where to draw the line. He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. 

“ASUU should also consider the coming general elections. Why not collect the amount offered by FG and resume work in order to make room for a hitch-free general election? We must not give room for politicians to start reading meanings into this industrial action.

“Neither should ASUU stretch its luck. Already, ASUU lost the University of Ilorin several years ago and heaven did not fall. The University of Ife branch has followed suit. There are also rumours that splinter groups of ASUU are already setting up a parallel union. ASUU’s strength lies in its unity. Accepting FG’s offer and calling off the strike will therefore be the best option at this particular time. ASUU is respected nationwide as the conscience of the nation. But ASUU must not overdo it.

“As a parting shot, we plead with ASUU to compassionately consider the agony of parents countrywide and the social menace the strike has become. Public sentiment has metamorphosed into frustration. The next stage in the process of metamorphosis may be contempt and anger. It may be too late by then”.   

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)