Following the recent arrest of some judges by the Department of State Security (DSS), the presidency has come out to clear the air, emphasising that the arrests are not an attack on the judiciary.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media to the President, Garba Shehu assures that the President reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government.
To this end, Shehu noted that the President will not do anything to undermine its independence.
According to him, President Buhari remains a committed democrat in words and in actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.
He said, “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.”
The Presideopen spokesperson noted that reports by a section of the media are giving them a cause for concern.
In undertaking the task of reporting, Shehu said the media should be careful about the fault lines they open, noting that it is wrong to present this incident as a confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government.
“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 suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial manner is to breach the interest of the state”, Shehu further stated.