{"id":265576,"date":"2016-11-06T11:14:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T11:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=265576"},"modified":"2016-11-06T11:14:23","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T11:14:23","slug":"nigeria-judges-suspended-amid-anti-corruption-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/11\/nigeria-judges-suspended-amid-anti-corruption-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria judges suspended amid anti-corruption probe"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nigeria’s Judicial Council has suspended seven senior judges, who are being investigated for corruption.<\/p>\n
The judges are accused of taking bribes in exchange for favourable judgements – allegations they have denied.<\/p>\n
Security agents allegedly confiscated thousands of dollars when they raided the judges’ houses last month.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to tackle corruption in the oil-rich nation during his election campaign last year.<\/p>\n
The judicial regulatory body of Nigeria, the National Judicial Council (NJC), said the judges should not perform judicial functions while on trial for alleged corruption.<\/p>\n
“Judicial officials who are being investigated for alleged high-profile criminal offences (must) not perform judicial functions until their cases are concluded,” said Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who is the head of the council.<\/p>\n
A total of 15 judges are under investigation. Seven of them had been arrested last month by the Department of State Service (DSS) but have now been released on bail.<\/p>\n
Justice ministry sources say the judges will be charged in the coming days, the AFP news agency reports.<\/p>\n
The NJC, which aims to ensure the independence of the judiciary, has also set up a three-member transparency and anti-corruption committee to handle petitions and graft accusations against the judges.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria’s Judicial Council has suspended seven senior judges, who are being investigated for corruption. The judges are accused of taking bribes in exchange for favourable judgements – allegations they have denied. Security agents allegedly confiscated thousands of dollars when they raided the judges’ houses last month. President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to tackle corruption in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":265579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[3,751],"yoast_head":"\n