THE TASK BEFORE JUSTICE KEKERE-EKUN
The Judiciary should be returned to the path of honour and integrity
Following recommendation by the National Judicial Commission (NJC), President Bola Tinubu last Friday swore in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). If confirmed by the senate, she will be the second female CJN after Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, who held the office between July 2012 and November 2014. The president has charged Kekere-Ekun “to defend the judiciary’s independence, always promote course of Justice, strengthen mechanism for integrity, discipline and transparency in the judicial sector and pursue other reforms or initiatives to sustain public confidence in the judiciary”.
We congratulate Kekere-Ekun on her elevation to the highest office in Nigerian Judiciary. But the task before her is enormous. As we have repeatedly echoed in our previous editorials, the judiciary is not just any institution: it is an important arm of government that knits human society together. Yet the function of law as instrument of social engineering is made difficult in Nigeria by several unwholesome practices. “It is stating the very obvious that the prevailing public perception of our judiciary is nothing comforting,” said Dayo Akinlaja, SAN, who argues that most of the ills in the judiciary are self-inflicted. “That being so, it is very imperative to take urgent steps to restore public confidence in the judicial system.”
Many issues impact negatively on justice administration in Nigeria. The first is that of delay.
Apart from political cases which are usually expeditiously heard, cases in other areas, particularly civil litigation cases, take several years (some decades). This must change.
There is also an urgent need to address the issue of conflicting decisions by courts of coordinate jurisdiction that is bringing the judiciary to disrepute because they arise basically due to corruption and indiscipline. Like Caesar’s wife, our Judges should learn to refrain from things that rob the institution of its impartiality, fairness and integrity. More importantly, the current process of appointment and removal of judges in Nigeria is overdue for a review.
Long before members of the public took notice, appointment of judges had been politicised. Victims of this politics were not courageous enough to speak out. They feared that if they did, they would be punished. Today, many are speaking through unconventional means, using bar associations, socio-cultural groups and social media. Some of the revelations are shocking. It shows that ethnic and religious considerations as well as political affiliations and family ties are now being used to determine suitability for appointment into the bench. This bodes ill for the rule of law in Nigeria. Unfortunately, while many stakeholders have spoken about the challenge, nobody seems willing to institute the needed reforms.
Yet from Customary to the Supreme Court, appointment of Judges is now fraught with controversies and allegations of impropriety. At a valedictory session to mark his retirement from the Supreme Court last October, Justice Adamu Dattijo spoke to how unwholesome practices have compromised the judiciary in Nigeria. Specifically, he drew attention to the factors that now influence critical appointments to the bench. “A couple of years ago, appointment to the bench was strictly on merit. Sound knowledge of the law, integrity, honour, and hard work distinguished those who were elevated,” he said while also highlighting what is going on today. “It is asserted that the process of appointment to judicial positions is deliberately conducted to give undue advantage to the ‘children, spouses, and mistresses’ of serving and retired judges and managers of judicial offices.”
Justice Kekere-Ekun must be well aware that she is saddled with a gargantuan task. We therefore urge her to do everything within her capacity to return the judiciary to the path of integrity and honour. We can only wish her well.
