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In saner climes, the recent revelations made by the three retired justices of the Supreme Court are enough to precipitate national conversations and where necessary, could lead to a speedy constitutional review to salvage the law courts from the deluge of scandals and increasing public distrust. The central message of the eminent jurists is that the judiciary in Nigeria has morphed into a parody of its golden days, and cannot, in the present circumstance, live up to its sacred role as the temple of justice.
At his valedictory speech on October 27, 2023, retired Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad fired a salvo by noting that when he was elevated to the Supreme Court in July 2012, the “journey was calm and fulfilling” but after about five years, there were “punctuating turbulent cracks” that made the institution “awry and askew.” He took a swipe at the all-powerful nature of the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). He said: “As presently structured, the CJN is Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) which oversees both the appointment and discipline of judges. He is equally Chair of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the National Judicial Institute (NJI), the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) that appoints Senior Advocates of Nigeria. In my considered opinion, the oversight functions of these bodies should not rest on an individual alone. A person with absolute powers, it is said, corrupts easily and absolutely. As Chair of NJC, FJSC, NJI and LPPC, appointments as council, board and committee members are at his pleasure. He neither confers with fellow justices nor seeks their counsel or input on any matter related to these bodies. He has both the final and the only say. The CJN has power to appoint 80 percent of members of the council and 60 percent of members of FJSC. The same applies to NJI and LPPC. Such enormous powers are effortlessly abused. This needs to change. Continued denial of the existence of this threatening anomaly weakens effective judicial oversight in the country.”
He harped on the necessity of maintaining geo-political balancing at the apex court in a consistent and expeditious manner whenever vacancy exists, as appeals and petitions, like the presidential election, require evenly-spread representation in the adjudicating panel. Also, the funding and working conditions of the members of the Bench got his attention. He noted that despite the jerking up of budgetary allocations to the judiciary from N70 billion in 2015 to N130 billion in 2023, and presently to N185 billion, the increased funding had yet to trickle down because of the opaque style of management of the funds. He nailed his point by quoting Justice Mustapha Akanbi (rtd) thus: “{A}good judgement flows from a mind that is not bogged by the thought of – where do I get my next meal? Or where do I get the money to pay my son’s school fees? Poor conditions of office, disturb the mind. It is an obstacle to clear and positive thinking…”
Lastly, he condemned the disdain for merits in appointment of new judges and the penchant for flooding the courts with “children, spouses and mistresses” of serving and retired judges and those with connections in high places. The grim harvest, to him, is that with the collusion of some senior members of the Bar, decisions of courts, especially political cases, had become unpredictable and left more questions than answers.
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Another Supreme Court justice, who retired in the last week of September 2026, Justice Ibrahim Saulawa warned politicians against bringing them “Greek gifts” of cows and rams, to sway judgments in their favour. He said that the ugly practice was unheard of in other countries and called on the CJN to do something about it. Referring to a specific case which ended in a jail term for the Alhaji who donated a brand new Peugeot motor vehicle to him but was flatly rejected, Justice Saulawa noted that the Alhaji “went to the extent of seeking the intervention of some prominent personalities, including the Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir Usman, the District Head, Alhaji Balan Goggo, et al., with a view to influencing me to accept the ‘Greek gift,’ but to no avail.” He charged serving judges to maintain integrity, honesty, and morality.
Nonetheless, what the learned justice probably did not know fully is that bribery has gone beyond rams and cows. Though nobody is ready to admit it openly, there are hushed tone discussions about the alleged use of hard currencies like Dollars, Euros and Pounds to procure interlocutory orders, obtain long adjournments, and purchase favourable judgments.
In a similar vein, retired Justice Amina Adamu Augie took a more unsparing route at a public lecture in Abuja, and specifically indicted judges, lawyers and court officials, who according to her, have turned the courts into “market stalls” instead of temples of justice. “When a few senior members of the profession have been found to traffic in the corruption of justice, the damage is not to them alone; it stains the gown we all wear,” she lamented. The tough-talking jurist made a strong case for severe disciplinary measures against professional misconduct, no matter how highly placed the culprit might be. She also bemoaned the Nigeria’s position of 120 out of 143 countries in the 2025 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, and carpeted the government for its flagrant disobedience to court orders.
Meanwhile, while this piece was going on, a trending story of one Okolie Emmanuel Eziokwubundu who felt that he was unjustly sacked from his career at the National Industrial Court (NIC), had sued the President of the Court and the Chief Registrar of NIC, at the Owerri Division of the Court for a redress, but curiously, the matter had been transferred to Abuja Division, apparently to frustrate him and squeeze him of resources needed to prosecute the matter diligently. The attempt to muzzle the young man with an official subterfuge negates the principle of natural justice. Therefore, defenceless people like him need to be urgently rescued from ‘judicial capture’ in Nigeria.
