The Presidency on Sunday reacted to the raid by operatives of the Department of State Services on homes of some judges, leading to the arrest of some of them.
According to a statement by Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, , Garba Shehu, Muhammadu Buhari “reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government, ” and “will not do anything to undermine its independence.”
Shehu said “President Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.
Shehu said “The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.
The statement said further that “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.
The presidency cautioned that “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.
Shehu asserted that “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 said.
