Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, has cautioned judges against accepting any form of inducement before delivering their judgement.
Mohammed, who was represented by Justice Amina Augie, handed down the advice, yesterday, during the official commissioning of a High Court complex named after late Justice Chukwudifo Oputa, in Owerri, capital of Imo State.
According to the acting CJN, amassing wealth through such means would only amount to acquiring “dirty wealth,” and maintained that it would only be shameful bequeathing such legacies to the younger generations.
He, however, advised that judgments should not be written for monetary gain but for posterity. “ Being a judge is a harculean job to do, we work round the clock, everywhere ,imagine Oputa having to do that when he was a judge, he never knew he would be long gone and a huge complex named after him,that tells us that we should have posterity in mind.
“We don’t write judgement because of money , because your children will deny you if they happen to read such judgement, that is not what we want for ourselves as judges ,i always pray for people to learn from my judgement, not for monetary gain or to build a house,nobody will even visit such house knowing it was built with dirty money” Mohammed said.
Earlier in his speech, governor Rochas Okorocha noted that he embarked on the High Court building project to give the judges in the state an enabling environment to deliver their judgment in equity fairness and justice.