BY its nature, the legal profession is close-knit. Its members bond together. Be they lawyers or judges, they do not allow intruders into their midst. Even though, judges are first and foremost lawyers, once they cross to the bench, they become something else. Unwittingly, they turn themselves into a cult, living in their own world.
Truly, judges are expected to be above the rest of society in order to do their work freely and fairly. They should not be seen mixing with unscrupulous people so that their integrity will not be called to question. Judges are expected to maintain a moral high ground for them to command the people’s respect. What is a judge if his honour is not intact? Judges are not called honourable for the sake of it, they are so called because they earned the title.
A judge cherishes his honour as a woman her chastity. A judge without honour does not deserve the respect of others. More importantly, he is not worthy of being on the bench. The best of the best is expected to be on the bench. This is why the Constitution provides that only men of impeccable character should be appointed judges.
In some cases, black sheep have found their way on to the bench. These judges have brought ridicule to the institution through their unseemly conduct, thereby eroding public confidence. The court, the saying goes, is the last hope of the common man. But how can that be where the judge is corrupt? We have seen over the years, how some judges brought shame to themselves and what successive governments did to cleanse the Augean stable. The exercise, it seemed, was not far reaching; and the result is the kind of judiciary we have today.
Despite the efforts of the anti-graft agencies, a lot still has to be done to sanitise the judiciary, which in the last four months, has been in the limelight because of the ongoing trial of the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen for alleged false declaration of assets and non-declaration of some assets. He will know his fate today at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. As expected, many lawyers as well as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have shown solidarity with him. They want the charge against him dropped. The National Judicial Council (NJC), which looked into a petition brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has recommended that he be retired with benefits.
The council added that he should be allowed to maintain his seat on the Council of State (CoS) like other former CJNs. But a group, the Justice Reform Project (JRP), comprising 20 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), believes that the Onnoghen case provides opportunity for an holistic rejigging of the judiciary. In its first intervention on February 2, JRP deplored what it called the rot in the judiciary. It noted, among others, that there is widespread perception of corruption in the judiciary and this perception is supported by anecdotal evidence; and unscrupulous litigants and some complicit lawyers, including some senior advocates, procure judgments and orders by corrupt means. The group consequently called for the reformation of NJC, which is headed by the CJN; NBA national executive committee and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), among others.
On Tuesday, it came out with its second intervention titled: An open letter on judiciary reform, in which it stated that Onnoghen’s resignation, which was made known shortly after the NJC’s recommendation, was not enough because of the grave allegations against him. It said extending the anti-graft campaign to other judges would erase the impression that Onnoghen is being victimised. JRP said : ‘’His resignation/voluntary retirement is not an answer to these allegations and the JRP expects that justice, which is no respecter of persons or position, will be allowed to take its course. Beyond Justice Onnoghen, however, the JRP believes that the revelations that have been made in the course of this affair necessitate that urgent steps be taken to identify and sanction all other judicial officers who are found to possess inexplicable wealth that cannot be reconciled with their legitimate income or their asset declarations, two of the allegations made against Justice Onnoghen.
”These steps are necessary … to restore public confidence in the judiciary and disabuse the notion that all judicial officers in Nigeria are corrupt and that justice is for sale; to disabuse the notion that Justice Onnoghen’s travails are a mere witch-hunt motivated by ethnic and political interests rather than the result of a genuine concern for sanitising and reforming the judiciary…”
The JRP said Onnoghen’s response to the EFCC’s allegations against him raises questions about how heads of courts manage funds entrusted in their care, adding: “If the profession does not regulate itself effectively, incidents such as those involving Justice Onnoghen will remain a fixture in our judicial system’’. The group could not have put it better. For the judiciary to keep its pride of place, our judges should be above board. There cannot be one set of rules for them and another set of rules for the people. Why?
Former CJN Muhammadu Lawal answers the question succinctly: “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 though abusing his office while still being referred to as honourable”. What is honourable about a tainted judge? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
