Editorial
Of Corruption, Judges And DSS
The recent invasion of homes and
subsequent arrest of seven judges
by the Department of State Services (DSS), is an issue that would continue to attract diverse views for sometime to come. Apart from raising questions about the mandate of the DSS, it means trouble for the dispensation of justice in Nigeria.
Though the seven judges in question have been granted bail on self recognition, the action remains an embarrassment, not only to the judiciary, the legal profession but indeed civilisation and democracy.
To many angered by various conflicting judicial pronouncements of late, the harassment of the judicial officers did not come as a surprise, but the manner in which it came was what is quite disturbing: midnight raids of residences of serving judges with battering rams, crowbars, cocked guns and rifles.
It is however, curious to note that of the seven judges arrested, three had already been dismissed from service since 2016, while the other four judges are known to have made pronouncements or judgements in their various courts not favourable to the powers that be in the country. That is why the DSS actions seem very suspicious. Another question it raises is whether or not the Federal Government is cashing in on the dismissal of some judges to discredit and humiliate judges they see as obstacles to their agenda.
Moreover, under a democratic disposition, the organs responsible for arresting corrupt offenders are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Police.
The mandate of the Department of State Service (DSS) under the 1986 (Decree 19) later amended to read Presidential Proclamation Act of 1999 include providing security for senior government officials, particularly the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors and their families, Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Deputy Speaker as well as foreign dignitaries visiting Nigeria like Presidents and Heads of Government.
It is also charged with the responsibility of protecting and detecting within Nigeria of any crime against internal security. The protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning Nigeria and such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President may be deem necessary.
In essence, the scope of what the DSS did was totally outside its powers as the judges were never security threat to the country. What was also quite disturbing was the secrecy that attended the series of arrests, thus, Ieaving more questions, one of which is whether or not the suspects were invited at anytime by the law enforcement agents and they refused to honour such invitation. Were they reported to the National Judicial Council (NJC), did the DSS actually secure arrest and search warrants from courts of competent jurisdiction or did it exhaust all options governing the arrests of person(s) suspected to have committed acts of corruption?
Does the DSS have the constitutional power of investigating crimes as alleged which were not acts of treason, insurrection, spying or cross border crime?
While The Tide does not support corrupt judges to go unpunished, we also consider the Gestapo-like attack very undemocratic and smarks of dictatorship and despotism. This is why we expect the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), civil societies and other stakeholders in the Nigerian project to sustain the protest against the ugly trend. It is indeed a bad omen for our democracy. Without doubt, these invasions are unconstitutional and appear to be a deliberate attempt to intimidate the judiciary. Such should not be allowed to re occur.
The Tide therefore demands that the DSS must follow established procedures of handling such matters involving serving judges. Constitutional process should be applied. Also, it is our demand that DSS should limit itself to its constitutional and statutory responsibilities in the discharge of its functions.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
