Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN) has disagreed with critics of Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, for the construction of houses for judges in Abuja, saying the minister’s effort is in order.
Daudu, the Coordinator of the Rule of Law Development Foundation, stated this at the opening of the 6th Annual Criminal Law Review Conference of the foundation in Abuja.
He said the allegation that the renovation of courts and provision of houses for judges amounted to inducement was untrue and only portrayed the judiciary in bad light.
“One other vital point to note in this matter of the construction of houses for judges within the FCT is that it is not a personal bonanza of the Minister of the FCT but an appropriated project in the budget which received the assent of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Consequently, the way and manner the said critics have been going about it is as if the Minister of the FCT is constructing the buildings out of his personal purse and in his individual capacity is unfortunate.
“Once this distinction is recognised, it becomes clear that the hallowed office of a judge cannot be corrupted by merely giving to them their entitlement or accoutrement of their office.”
According to the lawyer, historically, providing accommodation for judges or judicial officers dates back to colonial times.
“We are privy to the knowledge and official records and documentation showing that judges have been provided housing by the executive arm of government since colonial times in the Government Reservation Areas of virtually all our urban centres/cities in Nigeria.
“This practice was stopped around 2007 when it became government policy to monetise housing and other perquisites of office under the guise that government will be saving more money when it pays rent for housing and buys vehicles for its staff across the three arms of government.
“The judiciary was the first to back out of this arrangement because it soon discovered that withdrawal of accommodation from judges, especially newly appointed judges, exposed them to danger.
“As having to rent accommodation in anyhow areas of the town exposed them and their families to grave danger.
“Thus, now that this service is being reinstated by the executive which is the appropriate agency to carry out such works, some people are losing sight of the big picture.
“And have reduced the matter to one of party politics, without considering the overall benefit of the provision of housing by the executive to the safety, independence and impartiality of the judges in question.”
