THE Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, faces an uphill struggle to restore public confidence in the judiciary battered by astonishing allegations of judicial malfeasances, some of them manifesting in the highest echelons of the courts. One of the reasons is that Nigerians, judging from their constant fulminations against judges and the courts, have grown deeply cynical about the chances of any reformation producing positive effects on a judiciary described as irredeemably corrupt. To accomplish his objectives, the CJN will, however, have to convince the public that the justice system is a chain that does not begin or end with the judiciary, a chain that is as strong as its weakest link. Last week’s decision on the Apo Six murder trial is a case in point in which the judge deplored police investigations of the horrific murder. The investigations virtually determined the befuddling outcome of this case which lasted for more than 11 obscene years. Without a comprehensive reform of the justice system in its entirety, the judiciary will obviously continue to expose itself to corruption or castration.
The recent decision by the Appeal and Supreme Courts to call for the nominations of qualified legal professionals from the bar and bench to be appointed as justices is, therefore, a step in the right direction. If the eminent justices saddled with that assignment do not bungle it in favour of man-know-man, as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo warned last week, Nigeria might begin to see erudite, incorruptible and competent justices. To reach that point, however, Justice Onnoghen will have to take the admonition of Prof Osinbajo, himself an eminent law professor and former Commissioner for Justice, who offered the Lagos example of judicial rectitude. According to the acting president, rather than limit itself to campaigning against corruption in the judiciary and further sullying the reputation of the third arm of government, the Bola Ahmed Tinubu government first of all established a revolutionary and workable template for the judiciary before cracking down on corruption.
That new template saw the welfare of judicial officers change radically for the better, thereby producing the needed results. Deep reforms must precede a crackdown if the desired changes are to be sustainable. Prof Osinbajo referred to a survey done in Lagos in 2006 which showed that judicial corruption was reduced to zero percent in that year from about 89 percent before that year. Said Prof Osinbajo: “It was because a system was in place and impunity was not allowed. It is important that we put in place models that will work…We must work together the legislature, the judiciary and the executive to put a model that must work. We must ensure that systems that are put in place are fair and comply with the rule of law.” There is evidence to show that the National Judicial Council borrowed a leaf from the Lagos example some years back. Instead of being defensive, the CJN should admit the frailties of the judiciary at whose apex he sits, and press ahead more determinedly, hopefully with the vice president’s support, to give Nigeria an intellectual and ethical judiciary that works.