The Presidency has insisted that the Saturday raids on the residences of some judges and arrest of four of them were assaults on corruption and not on the judiciary.
A statement by the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said that the President reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government.
Garba Shehu described the raids as ‘surgical’ and that due process was followed in the arrests.
“The Presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.
“To this end, the President will not do anything to undermine its independence. President Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.
“The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.
“In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected. But reports by a section of the media are giving us cause for concern.” [myad]
