Names Of Top Nigerian Judges Under Investigation Revealed

SaharaReporters has obtained a full list of top Nigerian judges under investigation by security agencies across the country.
The list is contained in a confidential memo forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari on a recent dramatic move by agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) against judges accused of accepting bribes as well as other acts of corruption.

A week ago, agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) embarked on an unprecedented raid of homes of numerous judges, arresting several of them, including two Supreme Court justices directly linked with alleged electoral judgment fraud in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

The judges named in a confidential list sent to President Muhammadu Buhari include Justices Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta and John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, Justice Muhammad Ladan Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Court of Appeal, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal high Court, Justice Kabir Auta of the Kano State High Court, Justice Munir Ladan of the Kaduna State High Court, Justice Bashir Sukola of the Kaduna State High Court, and Justice Mu’azu Pindiga of Gombe State High Court.




Other high profile judges named in the confidential memo include Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the current President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba and Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court.




The memo accused Justice Chikere of receiving cash for a pre-election matter that came before her. Justice Chikere is married to Kenneth Anayo Chikere, a chieftain the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State and a former member of the House of Representatives. According to the source of the memo, Mr. Chikere acted as go-between to funnel significant amounts of cash to his wife who then proceeded to give favorable judgments to those who offered the cash.





The memo alleged that Justice Kabiru Auta collected bribes from a businessman named “Alhaji Kabiru SKY.” The bribe scandal led the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend the judge, but the council later recalled the judge, claiming there was not sufficient evidence that he auctioned verdicts from the bench.