Corruption in the judiciary and NJC’s timely Augean Stable cleaning

From Godwin Tsa, Abuja

The judiciary which is hailed as the last hope for justice for the citizens has in recent times been proven not to be immuned from the debilitating virus of corruption, and other unethical conducts that have continued to dent it’s image and erode public confidence in it

For example a newly released report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) exposes unmitigated corruption in that arm of government. The report indicated that Nigerian public officials received nothing less than N721bn as bribes in 2023, with Judges topping the numbers.

Analysts rue that corruption in the judiciary desecrates the temple of justice, undermines the rule of law, allows impunity to flourish, leads to unfair trials and makes fighting of corruption unnecessarily herculean and even impossible task. Remarkably, routine perversion of the course of justice has been damaging to the image of the judiciary.

At the opening of the legal year before a special session of the Supreme Court  in November 2023, Ebun Sofunde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), speaking on behalf of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), stated that judicial reputation “is at an all-time low…to a point where it may no longer be redeemable” According to him the Supreme Court judgments had become “perfunctory.”

No doubt, there are many hardworking, respected and honest judicial officers in the country. However, many believe that the image and reputation of the Nigerian judiciary is at its lowest ebb at the moment.

Recall that former president Mohammed Buhari had openly complained that the Judiciary was hindering his anti-corruption fight.This was to lead the Department of States Security Services (DSS) to launch the controversial mid-night ‘sting operation’ on several judges whom the presidency had alleged were corrupt, in  October 2016.

Keen watchers of the goings on in the the judiciary are agreed that there’s the need for a clinical weeding of judges who have tainted their robes alongside other judicial personnel that have also been indicted for being accomplices in corrupt practices.

Previous attempts by the NJC, (which is clothed with the statutory powers of sanctioning erring judicial officers), to restore public confidence in the judiciary, according to observers, have not yielded the desired results as allegations of judicial corruption continue to dominate public space.

Rule 4 (i) (a) of the National Judicial Council specifically provides that the candidates seeking to be appointed as judicial officers must be of good character and reputation, diligent, honest, hardworking, and versed in the knowledge of law and consistently adhering to professional ethics.

Due to the uniqueness in the duties of judges – administration of justice and interpretation of the laws – their mode of appointment has remained one of the most debated issues in the legal profession.

Hence, selecting men and women of integrity, who would sit at the Bench to interpret the laws, uphold the rights and frameworks within which the state functions, should certainly attract more than a passing interest.

In 2014, the NJC under the chairmanship of the nation’s first female Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Justice Mariam  Aloma Mukhtar, ordered the compulsory retirement of Justice Gladys Olutu of the Federal High Court and Justice Ufot A. Inyang of the FCT High Court for gross misconduct.

The Council further warned former acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dalhatu Adamu and two high court judges, Justice A.A. Adeleye of Ekiti State High Court and Justice D.O. Amechina of the High Court of Justice, Anambra State, over acts of misconduct.

Under her watch, two other judicial officers, Justices Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court and Thomas Naron of the Plateau State High Court were compulsorily retired for gross misconducts, contrary to their oaths of office.

Justice Archibong was specifically accused of lacking “full grasp of the law and procedure of the court.”

On his part, Justice Naron was accused of making “constant and regular voice calls and exchange of mms and sms (text) messages” with one of the lead counsels to one of the parties to the suit in the 2007 Osun State gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal contrary to the Code of Conduct for judicial officers vide section 292(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Justice Aloma’s reputation ‘as a no- nonsense judge’ brought about revolution in the administration of justice and moral reconstruction of officers and agents of justice in the nation’s judicial system.

Following the uproar over pervasive corruption in the judiciary, a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen in his official capacity of Chairman of the NJC empowered a 16-member Corruption and Financial Crimes Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (FCCTMC) headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice, Suleiman Galadima.

The committee was tasked with entertaining petitions and allegations against judges and making recommendations to the NJC for further disciplinary actions and possible sanctions. This was viewed as a heart warming steps by the judiciary to clean its own Augean stable.

Last week, the NJC under the Chairmanship of the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola again embarked on another cleansing exercise with the setting up of  four different committees to investigate allegations of various levels of unethical misconduct against 27 judges of the federal and State High Courts.

The decision to probe the judicial officers was taken after the NJC considered the Report of its Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee on 22 petitions written against them that were found meritorious.

The petitions against the indicted judicial officers, according to competent sources, bordered on bribery, reckless granting of exparte orders and conflicting judgments among other unethical conduct.

The NJC equally issued a letter of advice to Justice O. M. Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court, urging him to “be circumspect as a judicial officer before acting, even in the most challenging situation.”

The charge, according to a statement by the NJC, was based on the report of a committee that investigated him over alleged “uncouth language” in a letter he had written to the CJN.

Justice Olagunju had in the offensive letter challenged the NJC’s decision viz-a-viz its Policy Direction on Appointment of President Court of the Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo State.

The NJC has also further placed five judges on its pre-sanction watchlist register for poor performance. The affected judges, Daily Sun was informed, will be recommended to the council for appropriate sanction if they do not improve on their performance.

The maintenance of the highest standard of judicial integrity, according to legal experts and judiciary stakeholders, is the surest safeguard against the disintegration of the fabric of society.

“When the citizenry loses confidence in the capacity of our judges to do justice without fear of favour, the temptation of self help becomes irresistible”, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who preferred anonymity told Daily Sun.

Notedly, the NJC, by its salutary actions, appears to appreciate that except and until corruption, which is the cancerous sore thumb of Nigeria’s justice system, is removed through the most urgent surgery, it will, in geometrical progression, destroy the system.

The  actions of  NJC, in taking the bull by the horns, stakeholders opine,  will go a long way in  improving the image of the justice system in the eyes of the public, “an image that  has been battered by brazen corruption and ridiculous rulings”, lamented Samuel Adebimpe, a social affairs analyst.