Punch
The separation of powers, we all know, is a cornerstone of democratic governance and in any modern state, where there is no separation of powers, powers would be concentrated in one organ or one human being and that person would abuse the power concentrated in his hands.
First of all, the judiciary was subjected to a humiliating treatment as we witnessed against Justice Ayo Salami under the Presidency of Goodluck Jonathan, or the kind of devastating treatment meted out to Justice Walter Onnoghen, or where the judicial officers’ houses were been invaded by Department of Secret Service and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission officials under the pretext of wanting to fight corruption. These are people that should have been invited to assist in investigations and would be duty-bound to come.
Such invitations should be given to the CJN, or the President of the Court of Appeal or the chief judge of a state to pass on to the relevant judges or justices. That is when you respect the sanctity of the judicial offices, not by breaking their doors or invading their houses by force of arms. It shows how animalistic our law enforcement agents are. They are not law enforcement officers, they are rather hooligans. They operate in the Gestapo fashion.
Secondly, the situation where the judiciary is made to be an appendage of the executive, then there is no separation of powers. The implication is that the judiciary would not be independent, and a dependent judiciary is never a working institution because judges would be afraid to give judgments.
Anytime you have cases in many high courts, and the EFCC is involved, you will see some judges already panicking. In fact, they already take the side of the prosecuting counsel from the…
