To rescue itself from persistent interference from politicians in the legislative and executive arms of government, the Judiciary must assert its independence. Lawyers tell ERIC IKHILAE how this can be done.
For the third time in the last three months, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has warned politicians to refrain from interfering with the operations of the Judiciary.
The first time was in August while speaking at the 2022 Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA -SPIDEL).
Justice Ariwoola said: “The electoral process has been set in motion and the 2023 elections are just a stone’s throw away.
“We are fully aware that it is in a period like this that the executives or those seeking and aspiring for political positions will not tread on the path of the rule of law, the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but will rather act on their whims and fancies to clinch to power.
“Interestingly, the Judiciary shall be in the centre stage of this to equipoise between the electoral players and further catalyse and administer justice, fairness and equity in the courts where their petitions shall flow.”
According to the CJN, “past and present political regimes in Nigeria have not ceased to intervene and interfere in the premises of the Judiciary and have almost diluted its supposed sanctity.”
He accused them of whittling down its powers and authority and tampering with its independence and autonomy through various ways and means.
“I conclude that the underminers of judicial authority must understand that since the three arms of government, though separated, but fitly fused, are joined together to bring out the best in any government or democracy.
“Undermining one arm or the other is to spell doom and anarchy for that government, even to the detriment of the underminers,” the CJN, who was represented at the event by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Supreme Court, said.
The second occasion was in early October shortly after he was sworn in as the substantive CJN.
This time, he directed his plea to both politicians and other Nigerians.
He said: “Politicians should allow the Judiciary to function. Law is not static, and that’s why you have seen that the National Assembly continues to amend the laws.
“And, it is the laws that the courts apply to the facts available.
“We shall continue to do justice if only Nigerians will allow us to perform and function without any pressure.”
The CJN again stressed this position during a reception held in his honour on October 30, 2022, by the Oyo State Government.
He said: “We are ready and waiting, and we shall not let down Nigerians. Let the politicians leave the Judiciary alone for us to function.
“Let them do their things and let us do our things. The law is not static; what we apply is the law as it is made. But our dockets are full. We have asked for an amendment to our constitution over and over again.
“There are many matters that should not find their way to the Supreme Court in 2022. Many are indeed domestic matters of the political parties. Why bring that to the court for us to adjudicate when your constitution has shown you the way?”
To observers, the CJN has chosen to stress this position given past experiences, the most embarrassing being the revelation made by some judicial officers after the 2015 general elections.
It could be recalled that shortly after officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) invaded the residences of some judicial officers in 2016, some judges gave details of how politicians pestered them to tilt the scale of justice in favour of some particular interests.
Between then and now, politicians do not seem to have desisted from this practice, a development that many blame for the rising scale of corruption in the Judiciary.
A recent report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), titled: “Nigeria Corruption Index: Report of a Pilot Survey” covering a period of 2018 – 2019, placed the Judiciary on top of the Nigeria Corruption Index.
It estimated that N9.4 billion was exchanged in a bribe-for-judgement scheme in the judicial sector between 2018 and 2020.
The report said lawyers were mostly responsible for offering bribes for favourable judgements mostly in electoral and political matters.
Of the 901 respondents in the justice sector, 638 making 70.81 per cent were lawyers. Judges were: 124 judges or 13.76 per cent, and 25 respondents at 2.77 per cent were court staff (clerks and registers).
In all, there were reported experiences of being corruptly paid, demanded, or offered bribes up to N9.457 billion in the entire justice sector between 2018 and 2020.
It added that the remaining 114 respondents or 12.65 per cent of the 901 respondents in the justice sector did not indicate their roles.
According to the report, “six female judges reported that they were offered N3,307,444,000billion and five male judges reported N392,220,000million.
“Overall, the justice sector had the highest level of corruption with a score of 63. The level of corruption in the justice sector was heightened by stupendously high amounts of money offered as bribes to judges by lawyers handling high electoral and other political cases…
“The total amount of money reported by the justice sector respondents as corruptly demanded, offered and paid between 2018 and 2020 was N9, 457, 650,000.”
Why the CJN warned politicians
According to a lawyer, Masuud Abbas, the CJN’s persistent caution to the politicians might have been informed by the benefit of hindsight.
He added: “I think the CJN understands the danger more than most of us. He is operating at the highest level and knows what is happening.
Abbas added that he was sure the CJN also realise the damaging effect of a corrupt judge on the judicial system and society, as captured by Hon. Justice S.O. Uwaifo, (JSC) in his valedictory speech on January 24, 2005, titled: “May the Supreme Court never become an Undergrowth.”
He quoted Justice Uwaifo as noting that: “A corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street.
“The latter can be restrained physically. But a corrupt judge deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals through abusing his office while still being referred to as honourable.”
Way out
Abbas, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) Monday Ubani and Dr. Abdul Mustafa called for an independent Judiciary with the capacity to resist unnecessary pressure from the other arms of government
Speaking at the NBA-SPIDEL event, with the theme: “The undermining of judicial authority in a democracy,’ Ubani stressed the need to highlight the fact that other arms of government have not treated the Judiciary well in terms of obeying court judgments, provision of basic facilities for the efficient discharge of judicial functions and addressing the welfare of the judges.
Ubani observed that “the judiciary has remained a poor cousin, a weeping and aggrieved sibling in a relationship of three brothers of equal age and status. This is very unfair.”
On how the Judiciary has been undermined, Ozekhome said: “Nigeria is in a quagmire. Judges are afraid to deliver judgment because the government is on their neck.”
This, he noted, forms one of the consequences of undermining the Judiciary. He argued that the judges must be allowed independence.
Mustafa argued that the Judiciary played into the hands of the politicians when they allowed them (politicians) to dictate to them the schedule of hearing of political cases.
“They allowed the Legislature and the Executive to impose on them the prioritisation of political matters, as now inscribed in the Constitution.
“Who benefits from political matters? It is the politicians. How can you run away from their pressure when they dictate to you how to hear their cases?
“The scheduling of cases should be left for the court to determine.”
Mustafa argued that if the Judiciary wants to resist pressure from politicians, they should stop giving undue attention to political cases to the detriment of other cases, particularly those relating to the liberty of citizens.
He added: “How can you place priority over election cases or pre-election cases in the excuse that they are time bound?
There are cases of citizens who are languishing in prison custody. Judges should ensure that equal time is allotted to all cases. By so doing, the pressure from politicians will reduce.”
