Following the crack down on judges allegedly involved in corrupt practises by the Department of State Security, President Muhammad Buhari has allayed any fear that the executive is trying to interfere with the independence of the judiciary.
In a statement released by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, the President said the surgical operation was needed in order to arrest the corruption in the judiciary.
The statement reads, “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.
“In undertaking the task of reporting, the media should be careful about the fault lines they open. 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.”