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Tag: public trust

  • Public trust and the judiciary: A call for reform

    Public trust and the judiciary: A call for reform

    • By Hisham Saleh Gidado

    A nation’s judiciary is the heart of its democracy, and the ultimate safeguard for the protection of the rights of its citizens. In Nigeria, however, the judicial system has for years been facing persistent challenges affecting its integrity and leading to the erosion of public trust.

    According to Nigerian Judicial System Perception Poll (2020), 88% of Nigerians perceived corruption to be common in Nigeria’s judicial system, with about two-thirds (63%) of this population describing their experience with the judicial system as being negative, stating reasons such as the demands for bribe, bias in judgement, delay in proceedings and regular adjournment as some of the major factors why their experience was negative. Additionally, the 2023 report by United Nations Office on Drug and Crimes (UNODC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends”, had it that  judges topped the list of the highest recipient of bribes.

    While the judiciary is the heart of democracy, public trust is the heart of the judiciary. As stated by Honore Balzac, “to distrust the judiciary marks the beginning of the end of society. Smash the present patterns, rebuild it on a different basis … but don’t stop believing in it”. Therefore, the impact of the loss of public trust in Nigeria’s judiciary extends beyond individual cases—it has far-reaching consequences on the society. Hence, without public trust in the system, people may resort to self-help means of seeking justice, including violence or other extrajudicial acts, further destabilizing the nation.

    Having established corruption as the backbone of the issue, to address it head–on requires identifying the factors that contribute to its existence. Beyond judges, there are equally other factors, which include inadequate funding of the judiciary, political interventions, and the roles of court officials, lawyers and law enforcement agents.

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    Political interference is one cause of judicial corruption that can be cited without having to prove. The involvement of political figures in judicial proceedings, particularly in cases involving electoral disputes or governmental corruption, has called the judiciary’s integrity into question. Additionally, the appointment process for judicial officials is usually perceived by the public to lack transparency and meritocracy. Many people believe that political patronage influences appointments more than the candidates’ qualifications and integrity, making them lose confidence in the system.

    Equally, court clerks and registrars have been reported in many instances to engage in corrupt practices like forging receipts and extorting bribes. Lawyers who are supposed to be the personification of law and justice have, in many instances, known, to have contributed to the problem. Some lawyers have been known to actively encourage or facilitate bribes to court officials and judges in their desire to achieve even what is legitimate. Instead of upholding professional integrity, such lawyers even guide their clients into such unethical practices, preserving a culture where justice can be bought. As a result, those with limited financial resources find themselves unable to navigate the judicial system effectively.

    Similarly, law enforcement officers, especially those involved in the arrest and prosecution of offenders must come for mention in addressing the issue. From police officers who customized demanding bribes to drop charges or mishandle evidence, to prosecutors who deliberately present a weak case, leaving an obvious avenue for the escape of criminals. Such attitudes do not only create an environment where bribery is tolerated but where it is seen as norm.

    Restoring the integrity of the judiciary, in the circumstance, is no longer an aspiration but an urgent necessity to save our nation from being capsized. Undeniably, the bedrock of the restoration lies heavily on the dual pillars of judicial “accountability” and “transparency”.

    The ultimate question is –how can accountability and transparency be achieved? To achieve this, a well-rounded approach is required, to be complemented with drawing successful examples from other countries which would suit Nigeria’s judicial challenges, and pave way to its reformation.

    In many countries technological solutions have been deployed to enhance transparency and accountability in the judicial system. For example, in Brazil, court records and filings are managed electronically as a result of which chances for corrupt practices by court registrars and other officials are slim. Given its effectiveness, it could equally be beneficial if implemented in Nigeria. By making case records and decisions publicly accessible online, corruption would be difficult to conceal and delays caused by human interference would be minimized.

    In the same vein, e-filing and automated scheduling systems would equally help in ensuring judicial processes are conducted in a faster and timely manner. The public would have a better and more informed access to court proceedings and the manner through which they are conducted. Such reforms would significantly reduce opportunities for bribery and manipulation within the judiciary, making the system more accountable and trustworthy to the public.

    Similarly, strengthening judicial oversight and accountability is essential. This can be achieved by empowering the National Judicial Council (NJC) and similar bodies with greater authority to investigate and discipline judges and court officials involved in corrupt practices. For example in a country like Kenya, similar reforms in judicial oversight resulted in more transparent investigations of judges accused of corruption, and has resulted in to the removal of several high-profile justices who happened to be complicit in judicial misconduct. The objective of the reform is ensuring that investigations into corruption cases are conducted in a swift and transparent manner, and also free from political influences.

    In addition to the external oversight, internal judicial review is equally required. This could be achieved by institutionalizing a system which would regularly review judicial decisions and the conduct of judges and court staff. For example, a body which would annually conduct auditing and review in the judiciary, would go a very long way in fostering a more transparent and accountable judiciary.

    Another essential factor in the fight to restore a culture of integrity and professionalism in the judiciary is the judicial training and ethics education. Judges, courts staff and lawyers must constantly undergo training and workshop to keep their understanding of judicial ethics abreast with global best practices. The workshops and training should be constant and touching in both the technical aspects of law and ethics.

    To ensure accountability and transparency, there’s need to establish accessible platforms where citizens can report any perceived misconduct or inefficiencies within the judiciary. One way to achieve this is by utilizing digital portals for submitting complaints or feedback about court processes and the behaviour of judges as observed by the public. This allows citizens to have a voice in evaluating the system’s performance. Regular public consultations in the structural decision making can also give people an opportunity to express concerns directly to the relevant authorities. By creating such open communication channels, the judiciary becomes more accountable and responsive to public needs.

    The civil society organizations and the media should be empowered to act more independently as watchdogs, keeping the judiciary under close scrutiny and ensuring that corruption is exposed and addressed. By providing fact-based coverage of judicial activities, the media can help foster a more informed public, and also place additional pressure on the judiciary to promote integrity. Civil society, through public advocacy campaigns, can also push for legislative reforms that strengthen the judiciary’s independence and integrity. Together, these forces can help create a judiciary that serves the people fairly and transparently.

    It cannot be denied that poor salaries and welfare is a significant factor in making judges and court officials susceptible to bribery. In Nigeria, judges and court officials, particularly in the lower courts, are not adequately compensated in both welfare and salaries. By contrast, in all the countries with least corrupt judiciary, competitive salaries and benefits to their judges are offered, and as such they have the least temptation to engage in corrupt activities. Therefore, ensuring that Nigerian judges and court staff are adequately compensated would diminish their tendencies for corruption, allowing them to focus on dispensing justice without the distraction of financial insecurity.

    •Gidado wrote from Gombe State.

  • Keep public trust, Buhari tells public officials

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Katsina warned public officials, particularly those elected and appointed into office, to keep public trust or leave.

    He spoke at the palace of Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabir, as he arrived to an epic reception in his hometown for the grand finale of the APC presidential campaign rally before the elections on Saturday.

    The President had earlier visited all the other 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said: “Those who betray the people’s trust, we will not spare them; they would be fished out and dealt with.”

    President Buhari told the emir and members of the Emirate Council that the promises he made before his election in 2015 have been met, adding that with certainty that all he needed was a second term and would not ask for more.

    “There is hope in the future of this great country,” the President said, appealing to all Nigerians to ensure a peaceful conduct of the election.

    The President highlighted his administration’s achievements in infrastructure development including improved power supply, as well as  empowering artisans, craftsmen, tailors, barbers and battery chargers to increase output and better their own lives.

    “The local production of rice and the increased agricultural production have helped the country to achieve food self-sufficiency,” he said.

    The President thanked the people of his home state for the “unprecedented” turnout of men and women from both rural and urban areas and the intensity of support shown by them.

    The President said it was humbling to see a mammoth crowd line the streets of Katsina and fill the Karakanda Stadium to see and listen to him give a scorecard of his stewardship in the last three and half years.

    In his remarks, the Emir of Katsina noted that the massive support, enthusiastic following and the hero’s welcome received by the President was a clear testimony of the people’s approval for his leadership, personality and integrity.

    He said no other major political figure in Nigeria was anywhere near the President in popular acceptance, adding that honesty can never be defeated.

    The Emir pledged 100 percent Katsina support to the president’s re-election.

     

  • Public trust

    Quoted firms owe it a duty to report regularly to shareholders

    THE  Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, may yet again wield the axe against some companies quoted on the exchange. The reason is that some of them have been lax in meeting one of the most crucial conditions for trading on the stock market, which is prompt reporting of trading activities and accounts every quarter. This of course, is in adherence to the principles of corporate governance codes.

    According to report, about 90 per cent or 125 companies operating on the exchange are yet to file their second quarter/ half-year operational reports and financial statements. Consequently, the management of the exchange has reminded that only a 15-day grace up to Monday, July 31, 2017 was available. Though the second quarter and half-year periods closed by the last day of June, the deadline for the submission of companies’ reports is the last work day of July.

    The exchange may have been prompted to issue a reminder because, by mid-July, only four companies had turned in their reports. Though 16 others have indicated they would meet the deadline, it is envisaged that most of the quoted companies would make it at the nick of time.

    The management of the exchange may well be taking a proactive step to forestall too many companies defaulting on this crucial requirement. The reports of a company’s business activities and trading accounts on a quarterly basis represent a most important way for shareholders and the general public to track such a company.

    The exchange has stipulated sanctions for defaulters, which include monetary penalties ranging between N100,000 to N100 million, while a company’s shares could also be suspended from trading on the exchange. About 17 companies were penalised recently. There is also what may be described as a badge of dishonour or tagging of a company for not keeping up to prompt reporting deadlines. This would present a telling scar that would easily warn prospects from dealing with such firms.

    As already noted, it is envisaged that majority of the quoted companies would meet the deadline. It has also become easier these days as online submission of reports is possible and acceptable. This reaffirmation of deadline would only be for the purpose of keeping companies in check and on notice.

    One would have wished that the NSE were more fastidious in the cases of over a dozen quoted companies delisted from the exchange in the last two years. Apart from a slap in the wrist sanctions, board members and management of the delisted firms practically got away scot free while shareholders were left in the lurch.

    It is believed that most of the owners and managers who may have run the businesses so poorly often recouped their investments many times over. Some divert the assets or even cleverly strip them of their essence, thus leading to inability to function, or even failure.

    The NSE must institute some early warning system to set off alarms when a firm begins to slide irretrievably. There is need to review the rules and laws to afford more safeguards to shareholders and grant them adequate recourse. We aver that shareholders be given ample protection by means of a lien on all assets of a failing firm or capital reserves to the tune of the shareholders’ investment in a company.

    Many Nigerians have completely switched off the capital market because many times, they have lost huge funds by way of investment in shares. During the last wave of banking capitalisation and consolidation for instance, many were virtually tricked into buying what turned out to be phantom shares which were eventually watered-down, diluted and made inconsequential through all manner of brazen manipulations.

    To win an overwhelming public trust once again, the NSE has a lot more to do beyond tracking reports. There is need for a comprehensive overhaul of the system. In order to reignite the confidence of investors, there is need to institute a better protection mechanism for shareholders.

  • Breaching public trust

    STILL WONDERING why we are where we are? You need not look further because the weevil that destroys the beans lives in the beans. Our country is where it is today because of the avarice of our leaders. We have been saying this for long that our leaders are our greatest undoing. All they are interested in is their own welfare. As long as they and their families are comfortable, they care less about the people.

    A leader in the true sense of the word is expected to have the love of his people at heart because he did not put himself in office. Since he got into office by the votes of the people, he is expected to take care of their interests and do everything for their good. But what do we see? The people are only good to be courted for elections. That is when they promise us heaven and earth. It is the period we normally hear them promising to build bridges right into our bedrooms so that we would not walk to get home.

    These suckers of politicians are good at making promises, but not good at keeping them. This is why some say that if a politician greets you good morning, you should quickly look through the window to confirm that it is actually morning before replying him. What we have seen in the past 18 years shows that politicians are cut of the same cloth when it comes to stealing public funds. Party affiliation does not matter when it comes to that. If the party they belong to matters, we would have heard them disagreeing at their meetings when the issue at stake is money, but rather, it is then that they really bond together.

    Money, some say, is spirit. Whenever our governors gather at their forum, they are seized by the kukushi spirit to the extent that they forget about the people who voted them into power and start to play ludo with our money. They have not  learnt from what befell their predecessors some of whom have been publicly disgraced for looting our commonwealth. Their greed for money knows no bound and there is no money too big or too small for them not to steal. The bigger the cash the better for them. This has left people wondering whether they came to office just to steal.

    The little I know about money is that you can treat your personal money anyhow, but when it is others’ money, you must tread gingerly. Not so our governors who do not differentiate between their personal and public money. To them, every snake is to be consumed, no matter the consequence. In the last three years, workers have been groaning under the yoke of non-payment of salaries. When President Muhammadu Buhari mounted the saddle on May 29, 2015, he gave the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) a bail out to pay workers’ salaries.

    Many governors diverted the money to other things. Some, we heard, even spent the cash on their mistresses. Till today, some states are owing their workers up to 10 months. Worried by this development, the president gave some conditions for which  the Paris Club refund due to the states will be released to them. They are to settle workers’ salaries with the cash, he said, among other terms. The states agreed and part of the cash was released to them. Have they paid workers with the money? It is not certain that all the governors are doing that. One of them, who holds a ranking position in the governors’ forum, has diverted the cash to personal use.

    The governor, who belongs to the ruling party, was said to have diverted the N500million he collected to a mortgage bank. The N500million is his state’s share of the N19billion first tranche of the Paris Club cash released to states. What kind of governor is that, that would feed fat on the entitlements of his workers? Why are some of our governors so callous? Why are they so concerned about themselves without giving a thought to others? Is the world made for them and their children alone? Are they the only ones who should live well?

    Although the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is said to have recovered the money from him, the case should not end there. The EFCC should dig deeper into it and bring the governor and his ilk  to book after the expiration of their tenure. We must do everything to stop this audacious stealing before our corrupt governors cripple the country.

    Haba, police chief

    IN every society, the police are the custodians of law and order. They enforce the law and ensure that offenders do not go unpunished. But our policemen and women seem to act in a curious way. They take delight in harassing the people on and off the road. They act contrary to the global best practice of dealing with people in a civil manner. They are brash and feel they are law unto themselves because of their uniform. The uniform does not confer them with power to deal with people, not even a criminal suspect, anyhow.  Contrary to the law, they consider you guilty even before they hear from you. This is why they are so quick to beat up  people in public or fire at them at the slightest provocation. The gender of the person they are dealing with does not matter to them. Whether a man, woman or child, they deal with them the same way. A nursing mother, Mrs Toyin Adeyeye, is their latest victim. The woman was beaten blue and black last Friday at a checkpoint in Ado Ekiti for allegedly refusing to bribe some policemen. In their defence, the policemen claimed that they descended on her because she tore their uniform.

    That’s a tall story. Their commissioner, Abdullahi Chafe, who is not in Ekiti ‘’to fight Fayose’’ swallowed the story hook, line and sinker. He did not stop there. For good effect, he added : ‘’Those people slapped my policemen on duty and tore their uniform. Uniform is an authority and what those people did was against the law and it is not good for a civilian to slap a policeman. It is not good for somebody to prevent a law enforcement officer from carrying out his lawful duty. Somebody wearing uniform? It is not about his age but the authority he carries…’’. Did Chafe hear from the woman before arriving at that conclusion? How can he be the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in a case in which he is an interested party. Since Chafe knows the law inside out, who are we to teach him the law. With due respect to him, he was hasty in his conclusion

     

  • Abuse of public trust

    Some Governors who hold state land in trust for fellow citizens, under the Land Use Act, continue to abuse their privileges, despite the clear intention of the law. In Enugu State, some past governors are guilty, and there is concern, whether the present Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, will tow that line, like his predecessors. Indeed, many political actors in that state, have used the much abused allocation of prime state lands to themselves and their cronies, to become stupendously rich.
    Such conducts are clearly an abuse of the constitutional prerogatives of a governor and I appeal to the abusers to stop it. The intention of the Land Use Act, as provided in its section 1, is clear enough, for any conscientious public official. The Act says: “subject to the provision of the Act, all lands comprised in the territory of each state in the federation are hereby vested in the governor of the state and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of this Act” (emphasis mine).
    Despite the clear intention of the Act, to create ‘a trustee relationship’, for the benefit of ‘all Nigerians’, the governors, and in many cases, the state officials they delegate the powers to, often use the constitutional license to mainly appropriate prime state lands to themselves and their friends in government. During the regime of former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, the iconic Enugu State Zoo, left since the era of Eastern Nigeria, as a wild life park, got converted into a posh estate, and given away at ridiculous prices to mainly state actors.
    And of course the majority of the beneficiaries were members of the state ruling political family, the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) many of whom are still in the present government, and may have gained more lands to show for their so-called public service. Without any iota of public shame, some of the commissioners entrusted by the past governors to oversee the state land use and allocation, cornered the process, to acquire for themselves and their patrons obscene quantity of the state lands.
    As predicted here previously; when Governor Nnamani left power, and a fight soon ensured between his faction of the Ebeano political family and that of his successor, Governor Sullivan Chime, some of the obnoxious allocations of state lands were abrogated by the new men in power. Of course there are several other ill-mannered appropriations of state land that took place, during that era, including the land earlier marked out as golf course by the state.
    Not to be outdone in personal aggrandizement, even when they sought to undo some of the ills of their immediate past, the successor-government of Governor Chime, stands accused also of taking over prime lands set out originally by the state for public purpose, and converting same to pseudo-personal purposes, for those in government and their cronies. Under Governor Chime land belonging to an iconic public institution, the Queens College, Enugu, was reportedly appropriated and shared among cronies in ‘exercise of public power’.
    While I was in the state during the Christmas break, a concerned indigene of the state called my attention to an alleged plan by the present government in the state to appropriate a land belonging to a higher institution within the Independence Layout axis of the state, expectedly for similar treatments like under the previous regimes. I hope that information is not correct, considering that Governor Ugwuanyi has declared himself and his government as conscientious, vowing to always act in the best interest of the state.
    If however the allegation is true, considering that Governor Ugwuanyi is still somewhat an offshoot of the Ebeano political family holding sway in Enugu state since 1999, and that many of the original dramatis personae are still hanging around in the corridors of power, are we going to see another round of sharing of public lands, by the very same public officials, charged by law, with holding the state land merely in trust and given the prerogative to administer same for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians?
    Nationally, the Land Use Act has been used for good and for bad. While the act has enabled the governments at little or no cost to acquire land for developments and improvement in the quality of life of many; it has also been dubiously deployed by major political actors to turn themselves and their families into some of the biggest land owners in the country. Many of the public officials by subterfuge, first take up large sparse of public land for agricultural purposes, through acquisition, and then surreptitiously convert same to estates, which they hawk.
    It was such duplicitous style that allowed the former President Goodluck Jonathan and his Minister for Federal Capital Territory, like their predecessors, to insidiously acquire large acres of public land earmarked for public purposes, and call it private farms. Regrettably, the abuse of the Land Use Act dates back to the inception of the law in 1978. Many of the military rednecks who were leaving power in 1979, used the dubious law to acquire community lands for themselves, in the guise of going into farming. There is even the common belief that the much touted Operation Feed the Nation was a subterfuge for such dubious agenda.
    The abuse of public trust has reached such a height in Nigeria that some faith-based organisations are now shamelessly competing with profit-making organisations to break the laws upon which they are set up, under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). May I say with all sense of propriety that some of our touted men of faith, who registered their religious bodies under CAMA may have serially broken the law, with regards to its provision on Incorporated Trustees, with the way and manner they deal with the resources of the religious bodies?
    Again, despite the hullaballoo about the tenure of office and the cowardly gimmick of the federal government in sacking the executive secretary of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Jim Obazee, to appease some gods, there is the general knowledge that it is the custody and proprietary rights over the wealth of the faith-based organisations that is at the root of all the apprehensions and struggles. Yet many of the leading faith organisations have long ceased to differentiate between the resources of the incorporated bodies and that of the private individuals directly in-charge.
    Of course many of them are not aware or choose to ignore the clear provisions of section 686(1) of CAMA, which is part of what the Financial Reporting Code on Corporate Governance, sought to enforce. It provides, with a minor proviso, that: “The income and property of a body or association whose trustee or trustees are incorporated under this PART of this Act shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the body as set forth in its constitution and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly, by way of dividend, bonus, or otherwise by way of profit to any of the members of the association”.