There is an urgent need for an overhaul of the judiciary, some activists have said.
To them, declaring a state of emergency in the arm of government would be a good start
The groups urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola to take urgent actions “to pull the Judiciary from the brink of total perdition”.
A pressing need, they said, is to ensure that judicial selection decisions are transparently and verifiably merit-based.
The groups issued a list of demands in a joint letter by Access to Justice, represented by Joseph Otteh; Chairman, Human and Constitutional Rights Committee, African Bar Association, Sonnie Ekwowusi and the Fight Against Corruption in the Judiciary, represented by Bayo Akinlade.
Others are FundELG Africa (Dominic E. Obozuwa), Open Justice Alliance (Prof. Chidi Odinkalu), Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) (Okechukwu Nwanguma) and Sterling Law Centre (Adedeji Ajare).
The groups raised an alert over the state of the Judiciary under Justice Ariwoola.
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In the joint letter dated March 28 addressed to the CJN, the CSOs said that against the background of the decline the Judiciary suffered before his appointment, it was expected that he would be “acutely conscious of the extreme urgency of reforming the judiciary and its administration, arresting its downward spiral in public trust, and reinforcing its capacity to promote and protect the rule of law”.
However, the groups noted, “the Judiciary remains unreconstructed and its public perception has not improved since then.”
They said: “We are very concerned that the Judiciary has steadily grown worse since Your Lordship assumed its leadership.”
The groups lamented that the CJN’s “personal actions – quite apart from the dysfunctionalities of the justice system – are harming the already fragile and enfeebled Judiciary, and whatever is left of its credibility”.
The groups and campaigners noted that some areas where the CJN’s leadership had worsened the situation and caused the Judiciary more reputational harm.
These include the reabsorption of judges dismissed/compulsorily retired over misconduct, which they said caused the judiciary embarrassment.
“Counting the options available to the National Judicial Council (NJC), this demonstrates the council’s lack of commitment to the reputation of the Judiciary and its ineffectiveness as an oversight body and sends the wrong message to other Judges,” they said.
Another issue raised is the alleged turning of a blind eye to issues of judicial integrity.
The organisations noted that the CJN’s unresponsiveness to allegations bordering on judicial integrity and unethical conduct erodes public confidence in the judicial system.
For instance, they said there were petitions against a recently-appointed Justice of the Supreme Court, which were ignored.
“None of the two letters were even acknowledged.
“Similarly, a letter written to the NJC to investigate allegations made by Hon. Justice Dattijo Muhammed concerning whether delays in filling Supreme Court vacancies was deliberate or not was acknowledged or acted upon by the NJC,” the groups said.
On allegations of nepotism and illicit influence peddling, the groups said: “Mounting allegations of nepotism, and undue influence in judicial appointments against the CJN have fueled public cynicism of the integrity of the judicial appointment process and worsened public distrust in the judiciary.”
They noted that there have been many (undenied) reports claiming the CJN may have promoted the appointments of family members into judicial and administrative positions in the Judiciary.
They cited the appointments of his son, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola Jr as judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court; his nephew Lateef Ganiyu as Justice of the Court of Appeal and his younger brother, Mr. Adebayo Ariwoola as Auditor of the NJC.
They also wondered why there was a delay in appointing Supreme Court Justices, as ex-Justice Muhammed alleged, despite the Supreme Court “suffocating under the pressure of acutely-reduced bench numbers”.
These allegations, the CSOs and campaigners say, have had a profound negative impact on public perception of Nigeria’s Judiciary, both domestically and internationally.
They maintained that the Nigerian judiciary, which was once revered, has now “lost direction” and faces widespread distrust, disparagement and even name-calling, which all now threaten the Judiciary’s legitimacy.
They also noted that notwithstanding the damning nature of public assessments and characterisations of the Judiciary, the leadership appears unruffled by them.
According to them, the reputational harm is affecting and stigmatising many conscientious judges/justices who serve honourably and do not deserve the unfair tarring of the entire institution by the same brush.
No respectable Judiciary, the groups maintain, “should afford to remain indifferent to the forms of public malignment and ridicule against it as we have witnessed in Nigeria”.
The groups were of the opinion that the CJN’s “actions have plunged the Judiciary’s image further down the barrel”.
The groups said the CJN must, therefore, “take urgent actions to pull the Judiciary from the brink of total perdition and overhaul the entire judicial system”.
“Declaring a state of emergency in the Judiciary would be a good start.
“Ensuring that judicial selection decisions are transparently and verifiably merit-based, is a pressing need at this time,” they said.
The Director of Press and Information at the Supreme Court, Dr. Festus Akande, could not be reached on Sunday to react to the issues and allegations.
His mobile phone was switched off and he was yet to respond to a request for his reaction sent to his WhatsApp as of the time of filing this report last night.
