The recent revelations by the Nigerian Department of State Security DSS and other security agencies against top judicial officers in the country question the integrity of the judiciary. It makes everyone believe that all human beings who have criminals tendencies should love and support the Nigerian Judicial System. The huge amount reported to have been discovered in these supposed seven honourable justices homes have not only become a source of concern for many observers but portends danger for the legal system and the image of the Nigerian judiciary and also cast doubts on the popular saying that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

With the commendations that have followed the ongoing investigation of senior members of the bench, it is viewed that President Muhammadu Buhari has been justified with his statement early this year when he said the judiciary was his main headache in the ongoing fight against corruption in the country. It could be recalled that Mr President while interacting with representatives of the Nigerian Community resident in Ethiopia, the President said far-reaching reforms of the judiciary was his government’s major priority. In Mr President words“On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the judiciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now,”.

They are addressed as “my lord” honourable justice, learned men of the bench etc, as they intimidate the public and coarse respect from among the people. They negotiated and convince the people on their indispensability and secured a spot for themselves as an arm of government that makes things right, whereas they contribute and are part of the problems. They’re quick to jump off the board and accuse the politicians of corruption and stalling the country’s development whenever things don’t go well, forgetting the fact that they’re part and parcel of those running things.They stall and constitute obstacles to the dispensation of justice in Nigeria. They adjourned cases, and receive kick backs behind the surface and under the tables to further their pervasive modus operandi, they proclaim their saintly and defile less lives, and are quick to deceive Nigerians that they are the “last hope” of common man.

In our country today, if one is to go for a check the number of cases awaiting trial, and how long some have been pending, one will be amazed, and wonder what these honourable judges are doing. The body saddled with the responsibilities of monitoring the conduct of judges is the Nigeria Judicial Council. The NJC has been known to be very efficient but cannot lay claims to any appreciable success in controlling unethical conduct among Nigeria judges. There have been occasion when extraneous factors compelled judges to pronounce verdicts against conscience, in our very eyes in this country, the judges exchange truth and falsity positions like day and night and the Nigerian Judicial service cannot claim ignorance of them.

I am not doubting the sincerity of the NJC because they have acted well in some cases like in December 20, 2006, the National Judicial Council, acting with powers vested in it by Paragraph 21(d) of the Third Schedule to the 1999 constitution suspended the Chief Judges of Anambra, Plateau and Ekiti states for the partisan roles played in the impeachment of the governors of their respective states.
Those suspended were Justices Chika Okoli (Anambra), Ya’u Dakwang (Plateau), and both the Chief Judges of Ekiti state, Justice Kayode Bamisile, and the former acting Chief Judge of the state, Justice Jide Aladejana.

Chuka Okoli, former Chief Judge of Anambra State, was placed on suspension by the council for what was considered to be his inglorious act in the controversial impeachment of Peter Obi as governor of the state. Before Governor Virginia Etiaba effected the decision of the council to appoint an acting Chief Judge, Okoli even tried to discountenance the directives of the NJC.

Justice Kayode Bamisile, his Ekiti State counterpart, was also sanctioned for similar misconduct. The former Chief Judge allegedly compromised himself by appointing on the investigation panel persons believed to be cronies of Governor Ayodele Fayose in his first term, to probe the impeachment allegations levelled against the governor. But Justice Jide Aladejana, who stepped into Bamisile’s shoes without due process, went down with his boss in line with the council’s recommendation.

Lazarus Dakyen, the Chief Judge of Plateau State, also lost his job because of his reluctance to be guided by law in his participation in the processes leading to the removal of the then Governor Joshua Dariye. Before them were Okechukwu Opene and D. A. Adeniji, who were indicted for taking bribe on the matter of the senatorial election in Anambra State. Though a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Akin Olujimi, (SAN), advised the then President Olusegun Obasanjo against their dismissal, the President upheld the decision of the NJC and the remaining story is now history.

Although, they are not the only judicial officers who fell victims of the political crisis or cash abd carry cases in Anambra State. Stanley Nnaji, then a judge of Enugu State High Court, was suspended in March 2004 for wrongly assuming jurisdiction on a matter outside his state. The judge had ordered Tafa Balogun, then Inspector-General of police, to remove Chris Ngige, who was then the governor of Anambra State. Nnoruka Udechukwu, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, petitioned the NJC, complaining that the ruling was in bad faith and against the code of conduct of judicial officers.

Nnaji was probably encouraged by the reluctance of the Federal Government to implement a similar decision of the council on Wilson Egbo-Egbo, another High Court judge, for granting an injunction directing Ngige to stop parading himself as the governor. But shortly after Nnaji was accused of misconduct, Obasanjo approved Egbo-Egbo’s retirement. The latter was one of the nine judges retired for endorsing unnecessary ex-parte applications. But they are not the only casualties of political or cash and carry justice.

Five others were implicated in the 2003 Election Petition Tribunal in Akwa Ibom State. They adjudicated on the petition against the re-election of the then Governor Victor Attah by late Ime Umanah, candidate of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, at the election. By the time the NJC concluded its job, Matilda Adamu, a judge of the High Court of Plateau State, Christopher Senlong of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and James Isede, a chief magistrate in the Edo State judiciary, had earned themselves dismissal from the judiciary because political issues. D. T. Ahura of the High Court of Plateau State and A. M. Elelegwu of the Customary Court of Appeal, Delta State, were recommended for suspension. The Federal Government, after approving the verdict of the council on the judicial officers in February 2004, sent their case files to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission for trial.

Just on July this year The National Judicial Council (NJC) recommended the compulsory retirements of two judges, Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, and Justice Olamide Oloyede of Osun State High Court. According to report Yunusa was axed pursuant to allegations contained in a petition written against him by the Civil Society Network Against Corruption.Yunusa was reported to have granted interim orders and perpetual injunctions restraining the Attorney General of the Federation, Inspector General of Police, ICPC and the EFCC from arresting, investigating and prosecuting some persons accused of corruption.

Again, on the 29 of September 2016, the NJC suspended three judges who delivered controversial rulings and took bribe in the course of their adjudicating in cases brought before them, the affected judges according to reports are Ladan Tsamiya of the Illorin division of the Court of Appeal, I. A. Umezulike of the Enugu High Court and Kabiru Auta of Kano State Federal High Court.The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and chairman of the NJC, Mahmud Mohammed, was reported to have said “all judges involved in giving conflicting rulings in various suits that caused the leadership crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be adequately sanctioned”.Allegations of corruption in the Judiciary are so high that all cannot be listed here. Some of the Nigerian Judges are richer than most business men, as their wealth over the years piled up through their shady and justice obstructions activities without scrutiny. Little wonder jungle justice and lack of faith in the country’s legal system have fast become part of us.

Even during the military era, the story was the same. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida held the judiciary responsible for the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. In his annulment proclamation, Babangida said that “the judiciary has been the bastion of the hopes and liberties of our citizens. Therefore when it became clear that the courts became intimidated and subjected to the manipulation of the political process, resulting in contradictory decisions and orders by courts of coordinate jurisdiction, then the entire political system was in clear danger. Accordingly, it is in the supreme interest of the laws and order, political stability and peace that the presidential election be annulled.” In the same vein, Gen. Sani Abacha blamed the judiciary for sacking Chief Ernest Shonekan’s Interim National Government, following Justice Dolapo Akinsanya of Lagos High Court judgment which declared the government illegal and an aberration.

Recently the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC chairman lamented that the corruption in the judiciary does not augur well for the nation’s democracy. According to report, Mr. Mahmud Yakubu said “Courts of law and their judgments must be obeyed. Within three months, we received 11 court judgments and orders, almost all of them conflicting. All of them were from courts of coordinate jurisdiction; all of them from the High Court. “In fact, in two days, 15th and 16th of August, we received one judgment and three court orders, from courts of coordinate jurisdiction from different parts of the country, two from Port Harcourt, two from Abuja.“As we closed from work (on Wednesday), a Federal High Court in Abuja came with another judgment. So, it is really a very big challenge. The politicians want to exploit the courts; that is why they all operate at the level of the High Court”
The contradictory court orders and cash and carry judgment of Federal High Courts may signal a return to the June 12, 1993 era where inconsistent court orders of courts of coordinate jurisdictions held sway.

For instance, on June 10, 1993, the Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice Bassey Ikpeme, ordered the then National Electoral Commission (NEC) not to conduct the June 12, election. Immediately, two Nigerians, Sumbo Onitiri and Richard Adejumo, in suit number LD/1757/93, rushed to court, seeking for an order of Mandamus compelling NEC to hold the election. Justice Moshood Olugbani of Lagos High Court granted the order of Mandamus. The election held but midway into the release of the results, another Abuja High Court judge, Justice Dahiru Saleh ordered the stoppage of the announcement of the results. In Benin, a member of the Bendel State House of Assembly, Matthew Egbadon also went to a Benin High Court, seeking for an order that NEC be compelled to release all the results. On June 16, 1993, Justice J.O.Sadoh gave an order restraining NEC Chairman Humphrey Nwosu and NEC from further withholding, neglecting or refusing to release the results.

The only way we cannot return to the 1993 era is for all Nigerians, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and all concerned authorities to join hands in sanitising the judiciary and cleanse it of bad eggs.By the provision of Paragraph 21 of Part One of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the NJC shall, among other powers, recommend to the President the removal from office of the judicial officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such officers. A situation where a judges take interest in political cases, delivering judgments as late as 6pm, while neglecting suits that deal with the economy of the country is killing our judicial system. A judge is supposed to be impartial but with what we see in Nigeria today regarding PDP and other funny political parties, it is obvious that some judges are very political and they don’t hide it. If we must stem the tide of inconsistency that we are throwing at the judiciary, all Nigerians must play an active role in the appointment of judges.

As the debate over the corruption and impartiality of judges dominate public discourse, Nigerians are waiting for the NJC to act swiftly on Tuesday, they NJC should not hide under the cover of independent of judiciary to protect the criminals in wigs, they must stem the trend once and for all by check mating the excesses of judges, who have become more political than the politicians.The essential functions of the law are justice, social utility and the protection of the right of every citizen. To be able to perform these functions, the judicial system must be reformed and judges must be sincere. I must admit that there are few of them that are honest and forthright. Every person is free to make material or political fortunes out of their acquired skills of positions but it is wrong to use members of the public as guiea pigs to make fortune.

On a conclusive note, let me end this with two quotes from two notable men: Hon. Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais said thus:
“A corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter can be restrained physically. But a corrupt judge deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals through abusing his office while still being referred to as honourable.”

On the danger of corrupt practices on the bench, Oputa JSC (of blessed memory) said thus:

“… No one should go to the bench to amass wealth, for money corrupts and pollutes not only the channels of justice but also the very stream itself. It is a calamity to have a corrupt judge. The passing away of a great advocate does not pose such public danger as the appearance of a corrupt judge on the bench, for in the latter instance, the public interest is bound to suffer and elegant justice is mocked, debased, depreciated and auctioned. When justice is bought and sold, there is no more hope for society. What our society need is an honest, trusted and trustworthy Judiciary.”

Ijebu Afoke Dickson writes from Isi in Isokoland, Delta State and can be reached by email afordick@yahoo.com.

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