With A Desecrated and Dented Judiciary, can Democracy, nay Nigeria Survive?

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

By Lanre Aminu

Published: June 10, 2010

With A Desecrated and Dented Judiciary, can Democracy, nay Nigeria Survive?

 

By Lanre Aminu

 

“You can default in every arm of government, but you dare not default in the judiciary. That’s where God himself sits on the throne. You are therefore representing almighty God Himself as you sit on that throne”———- Justice Anthony Aniagolu, retired justice of the Supreme Court. The highly respected jurist affirmed in an interview, published in the November 12 edition of the NEWS, that no effort must be spared to rescue the judiciary from corruption, arguing that of all the arms of government, the one nearest to God is the judiciary. “Justice represents the almighty God himself. It touches the heart of God and once you are corrupt on the bench, you no more deserve to sit on that bench,” he emphasized. Aniagolu clearly sees judges as representatives of God on earth and will readily cite the Bible to support his assertion. Emphasizing on the need for the judge to possess the qualities of courage, honesty and integrity before he can adequately dispense justice, Hon. Justice Oputa in a lecture delivered at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife declared as follows: Honesty and judicial rectitude are thus the badge of a good judge. It is a calamity to have a corrupt judge, for money, its offer and its receipt corrupts and pollutes not only the channels of justice, but the very stream itself. Honesty and judicial rectitude are, therefore very minimal requirements of the judicial office. Less than that, no disciplined and responsible judiciary should accept; and less than that no discipline and responsible society would tolerate. The offer to, and acceptance of money and unlawful or immoral gratification by a judge can ruin every virtue of the judicial office. They snap at and break the brittle bond of confidence which unite our citizens with the court system. Thus scandalized and morally deformed, bewildered litigants no longer expect from the court a just decision. The entire experiment of justice through the courts then becomes an exercise in futility and justice becomes a sham or at best a counterfeit for nothing is as hateful and as odious as venal justice. Also relevant here is an address to the American Bar Association:  “A poor judge is perhaps the most wasteful indulgence of the community. You can refuse to patronize a merchant who does not offer good stock, but you have no recourse if you are haled before a judge whose mental or moral goods are inferior. An honest, high-minded, able and fearless judge is the most valuable servant of democracy, for he illuminates justice as he interprets and applies the law, as he makes clear the benefits and the shortcomings of the standards of individual and community right among a free people” I always believed, and still do, that Nigeria is not yet a failed state and that the Nigerian cup is only half full, rather than half empty. However, the unbecoming conducts of some judges which have totally eroded public confidence in Nigerian judiciary have shaken this believe to its very foundation. Not a few agreed with this writer that one of the strongest features of a failed state is a failed judiciary. For rule of law to work, it must depend on men and women that are imbued with passion for integrity. Institutions of state are artificial entities. It is human beings that take decisions in their names. Corrupt individuals make a corrupt institution. Where the activities of such individuals go unchecked, the ability of democratic institutions that are designed to sustain the rule of law is impaired. To state that corruption in the Nigerian judiciary has assumed a frightening dimension is merely stating the obvious. Many will agree with this writer that the major reason why this cankerworm persist in the judiciary and can not easily be curbed  is because its top echelon that have the power to bring erring judges to book is not free from the taint of corruption. In fact, evidence of posting “trusted” judges to specific tribunals and appeal court divisions to sway favourable judgements to a particular side abounds. The fore going explains why the National Judicial Council (NJC) under the leadership of the former chief justice of Nigeria, Idris Kutigi finds it difficult to bring erring judges to book. Evidence abounds: The cases of the election petitions involving the current senate president, David Mark and Governors Usman Dakingari (late president Yar’Adua’s son in- law), Sullivan Chime, Segun Oni, Gbenga Daniel, Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Alao Akala of Kebbi, Enugu, Ekiti, Ogun, Osun and Oyo are good examples. The aforementioned examples are a major manifestation of the unholy alliance between the ruling party, PDP and the judiciary. It is on record that a particular judge was transferred from the Kaduna division of the appeal court after she had “delivered” to Jos division to “execute” a similar agenda. She did not only set aside the decisions of the lower courts nullifying the elections of Kebbi state governor, Usman Dankigari and senate president, David Mark, she also gave them their well deserved “victories” Another case which has brought the entire judiciary into disrepute is the one involving members of the Osun state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Thomas D. Naron. The judges were accused of exchanging telephone messages with Oyinlola’s lead counsel, Kunle Kalejaiye. It is unsettling that NJC is yet to come out with its findings despite the public outcry that trailed this unethical conduct of the members of the Naron led tribunal. It will be recalled that following the infamous 2003 general elections conducted by INEC, over 300 suits were said to have been filed at the various election tribunals across the country by aggrieved parties and candidates. There were allegations of corruption against some judges, some of which were later established to be true by the NJC, which consequently led to the dismissal of judges indicted. Even though in 2003, the number of judges sanctioned for getting their hands soiled in the cesspool of corruption was far lesser than the actual number, none the less, it was believed that some scapegoats had been made, which should serve as a deterrent to others. Unfortunately, however, the 2007 elections turned out to be one of the worst in human history. Both local and international observers promptly denounced this mockery of democratic principles and unambiguously called for a repeat of the polls. This led to the unprecedented deluge of election suits reportedly numbering over 7000 (as compared to 300 in 2003). It is not only unfortunate, but also disheartening that NJC is yet to bring to book a single erring judge in the present dispensation almost three years after it received petitions against some judges. It is on record that NJC is yet to take any action either in favour or disfavour of the petitioner and; or those accused till date. What further led credence to the public perception of Nigerian judiciary has been brazenly corrupts from the top is the clean bill of health given to all of them by the former president of the court of appeal, Umaru Abdullahi. He was reported to have said none of them was involved in any act of corruption, yet he himself was indicted in the petition written against judges that handled Abia Governorship Election appeal. In the aforementioned petition, Nigerian Coalition for Justice wants the NJC to determine how come the justices and the President of the Court of Appeal had high volume of banking traffic in their accounts. The damning verdict of some notable legal luminary and eminent citizens on the Nigerian judiciary is worth reproducing here: (1).In an interview with a national newspaper few weeks ago, Rtd. General Ishola Williams, chairman of Transparency International (TI) in Nigeria alleged that, “All the judges are just using the election tribunals to make money. All those who had gone through election tribunals are millionaires today. I challenge any one of them to say no.” This statement emanating from the chair of Transparency International in Nigeria, a highly reputable organization, which returns, every year, the position of each country on the corruption ladder, based on empirical facts is highly instructive

(2).Is there corruption and high profile life style among some of our judges? The answer to this question without any equivocation should be in the affirmative. Evidence of corruption abound. At least we have the example of two justices of the court of appeal being dismissed for corruption over their handling of an election appeal. We are also aware of the bribe scandal involving members of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for Akwa Ibom state. Another case we are all familiar with is the one involving members of the Osun state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Thomas D. Naron. The matter is now before the NJC, but it appears no progress is being recorded. As I was writing this paper, I stumbled into a story captioned “ICPC probes five appeal court judges for alleged bribery. With all these facts, I was a bit surprised when the president of the court of appeal, His Lordship, Hon. Justice Umaru Abdullahi was quoted by several newspapers as having giving a clean bill of health to members of election petition tribunals handling various petitions across the country. He was reported to have said that none of them was involved in any act of corruption. ———— Being an excerpt of the paper presented by chief Emeka Ngige, SAN at the section on Legal Practice Forum (Civil Litigation Committee) of the Nigerian Bar Association, Annual Bar conference held in Lagos between August 17-21-2009

(3). “The recent election of Yar’Adua, if I were in the Supreme Court, I would have said the election was flawed and Justice Oguntade said so. To say it was flawed would have been more beneficial to the state because now people realized that you don’t just rig election, you will have to wait for what the court would say, they failed us there again by saying the election was alright, the facts don’t show they are alright. Judiciary has failed the nation. I went to Enugu and said you judges, they were all younger than myself, if you look at the electoral act, all the offences are created, who decides? It is the judiciary, if you don’t take bribe and say you are going to send people to jail, people will sit up, but because you people don’t do things like that, you are not only failing the nation, you are failing yourself, you are not contributing to the constitutional development of the nation and the judiciary has an opportunity that you may do all this things you are doing, but you are coming to us, they are not doing that, I am not blaming any individual.———– Professor Uvieghara, a former commissioner in the Nigeria Law Reform commission and a classmate of the former chief justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Uwais at the law school made the above statements at the lecture he delivered to judges in Enugu state

(4). “If they dare to rig in 2011, then you will see what we happen. People will be on the streets to fight because they know that that is probably the only way they can get solution or ventilate their grievances. If the court is not going to assist them, then why wait for the court? I would not probably advise any body to wait for the judiciary to get his mandate if you believe your mandate is being stolen. So that is the problem ————- Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, President, Nigeria Bar Association. In view of the above, which additional evidence does any right-thinking person needs to believe Nigerian judiciary has sold its soul to devil, have no modicum of integrity? What is also deductible from the above is that Nigerian judiciary has failed. It is an established fact that a failed judiciary is a sign post to a failed state. When citizens loose confidence in an institution of state like the judiciary, the only civilized method of resolving disputes in a sane political clime, they resort to self –help. It is self-evident that what we are witnessing in Nigeria today is a creeping relapse into the precursor of events of 1966 and 1983. The people resorted to self-help in 1966 and 1983, because they did not have hope of getting justice from the courts as the judiciary then was in the pockets of the executive. Under the scenario painted above, if remedial action is not taking urgently to restore sanity into the judiciary and consequently, the confidence of the people, it is mere wishful thinking for any one to think either democracy or the country herself will survive after 2011. The only way the sagging confidence of the people in the judiciary can be restored is for the chief justice of Nigeria and the anti-corruption agencies to fish out the rotten eggs. The NJC should conduct a thorough and in-depth investigation into the allegations leveled against some election petition tribunals and appeal court divisions handling election matters. The more controversial cases that has brought the entire judiciary into disrepute in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the public are: (a).The court of appeal, Port-Harcourt division verdict on Abia Governorship Election Petition, (b).The questionable verdict of justices Thomas Naron and Ali Garba led Governorship Election Petition trial and retrial in Osun, (c). Justice Hamma Baka led Governorship Election re-run petition in Ekiti. I am using this opportunity to call on the new president of court of appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami to personally lead the election appeal panels in the case of Osun and Ekiti that can still be redressed to save the image of the judiciary, while disciplinary actions should be taken against all judges that were to have soiled their hands. This is the only way the hope of the people can be rekindle in the judiciary and forestall the looming anarchy that may lead to the collapse of democracy and the country from 2011. A word, they say is enough for the wise.

 

Aminu is the National Coordinator, Odua Youth for Good Governance and a member of the Save Nigeria Group.

E-mail: rxk1968@yahoo.com, Tel: 08076124433

 Email This Post