joshua
The anti-fraud mechanism put in place by the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Hon. Justice Josiah Joe Majebi, to sanitize the judiciary of the state, especially the High Court of Justice, in line with the vision of the Council of Judges of the state, has begun to yield unprecedented results as hitherto underground dealings are beginning to be uncovered in the High Court system.
The Chief Judge is not taking lightly the discovery that has just been made of a syndicate behind the issuance of court Enrolment Orders to the public and has directed that the culprits be investigated by the police. Preliminary investigations show that Court Enrolment Orders were being issued without passing through the required process of formal application to the court for issuance of same by recipients.
According to the Chief Registrar of the High Court, Jubril Oladimeji Ibrahim Esq., the crime, which may have been going on for only God knows when, was detected through the meticulous effort of the Chief Judge’s eagle-eyed detective mechanism that has been deployed within the system and the public in order to detect untoward activities relating to justice administration in the state. He said the mechanisms have been deployed without the knowledge of the staff of the institution and the general public.
Investigations revealed that the syndicate which has been operating mainly in Lokoja, the state capital, has its tentacle spread across the state and specializes in forging and issuing documents that are supposedly issued by the court.
He said the breakthrough was as a result of the immediate response and the necessary actions taken to bring culprits to book when information on the dastardly act was first broken to the Chief Judge. This, according to the CR, led to the invitation of a former President of the Upper Area Court I, Lokoja, Tenimu Muhammed Esq,, who is curently an Assistant Director in his office. He is presently facing a disciplinary trial before the Judicial Service Commission of the state. He purportedly granted and signed Enrolled Order made without any Proceeding or Application.
Two other staff of the High Court. Abdullahi Adams and Umar Muhammed, have been arrested and are being investigated by the police.
Following this development, the Chief Judge has warned all staff of the Judiciary to desist from acts capable of tarnishing their personal image and that of the Judiciary. He reiterated that the Council of Judges’ mission of restoring the institution’s integrity and sanctity was sacrosanct and nonnegotiable.
He maintained that the newly established Intelligence Gathering Unit of the High Court of Justice would be further empowered to be more proactive in the discharge of its mandate.
In the same vein, the Chief Registrar disclosed that the era of covering up for any officer found wanting or of dereliction of duty was over and urged all staff to maintain the highest level of decorum, discipline and sense of responsibility and dedication to duty. He said the hand-writing is now clearly on the wall that the current leadership was not ready to compromise on matters of integrity and the good image of the institution. He therefore urged all staff to adjust to the new order.
