President Muhammadu Buhari says the executive arm of government will continue to respect the judiciary within the limits set by the Constitution to strengthen the country’s democracy.
Speaking Thursday night at the Iftar dinner he hosted for the nation’s judiciary leaders, at the end of the daily fast, President Buhari said: “I assure you that I have great respect for the judiciary,” adding that Order and discipline in society can only be established when the law is applied to everyone, regardless of position or status, who you are or who you like, and without fear or favour.
“I try to keep my distance from you to avoid the perception of interference,” said the president, who added that he was satisfied with the careful adherence to due process by our courts.
The President of the Supreme Court of the Federation, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, attested to the president’s non-interference in judicial matters, saying that “in all his years in office, at no time, at no time, the president or any other your person tried to speak or ask for favors from the court. We cannot recall any attempt on his or anyone’s part to interfere with judicial decisions.
“This is a mark of your maturity and sagacity. I am convinced that just as it is done with the judiciary, so it is with the ministries and other government agencies.
“With leaders like you who don’t interfere in judicial decisions, the country can be sure that all is well.”
Justice Mohammed assured the president that the Supreme Court justices and judges throughout the judicial system were doing their best to handle the cases before them.
“We try not to delay. No case is unduly delayed and all are delivered within the time limits provided by the constitution. We are satisfied that we are fulfilling our responsibilities in the way that the constitution wants them to be done”, assured the president of the Supreme Court.
Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
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