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Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar, yesterday accused some Senior
Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) of encouraging corruption in the Judiciary.
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GRAPHITTI NEWS can now report that
the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar has focused her
attention and drive on pushing for a corruption-free Nigerian judiciary.
The Chief Justice, Aloma Mukhtar and
the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Rosaline
Bozimo, have asked court officials to desist from engaging in corruption and
other unethical conduct.
While the CJN warned that any
judicial worker caught indulging in the leakage of judgment, bribery and
related acts would face legal consequences, the NJI boss said the judiciary
could no longer tolerate unwholesome practices by court workers because of
their impact on public perception of the court system.
They spoke at the opening session of
a national workshop for secretaries, court registrars, process clerks and bailiffs
at the NJI in Abuja. It was organized by the institute.
Represented by Justice Walter
Onnoghen of the Supreme Court, the CJN noted that “these corrupt activities of
the judicial workers have raised serious issues of credibility and integrity
about the persons employed to assist the judicial officers in their duties.
“I therefore warn you not to involve
in any misconduct, no matter how minimal. If you indulge in any misconduct and
you are caught or suspected to have done so, you will be disgraced out of the
judiciary.”
Addressing the over 600 participants
at the workshop with the theme: “Revisiting the Code of Conduct for Staff of
the Judiciary”, designed to acquaint them with the salient provisions of the
Code of Conduct for court employees, Justice Bozimo said the training became
necessary because there was gradual, but frightening deviation from the
acceptable conduct by judicial employees, amounting to judicial misconduct.
She went on: “This dangerous
deviation can no longer be tolerated as it has caused serious damage to the
image and integrity of the judiciary.
“Surprisingly, it has been
observed that judiciary workers are not even aware of the existence of the Code
of Conduct. As a result of this ignorance, there is a gap between the Code of
Conduct and the people it is meant to guide. This workshop is designed to
fill that gap.”
Justice Bozimo, a former chief judge
of Delta State, said the workshop was meant to teach participants the rudiments
of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with the hope that the
knowledge they would acquire would assist them in doing their work diligently,
expeditiously and dexterously.
“No worker of the judiciary of the
participants’ cadre can perform his or her duties without the requisite
knowledge of the use and application of the computer, be it laptop, desktop,
I-Pad, or tablets,” she said.
It would be recalled that in July this year, The Nation newspaper had reported the Chief
Judge had accused Senior Advocates of Nigeria helping to aid corruption. She
had at the time wondered why so many of SANs would agree to represent a judge who had been
accused of graft at a mere disciplinary hearing of the National Judicial
Council (NJC).
“I think the SANs are equally guilty,” Justice Mukhtar
said.
The CJN had spoken in Abuja at the opening
ceremony of a three-day Judicial Reforms Conference, with the theme: Putting
Our Best Foot Forward: The Judiciary and the Challenges of Satisfying Justice
Needs of the 21st Century. It was jointly organized by the Nigerian Bar
Association’s (NBA’s) Judiciary Committee, the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) and Access to Justice, with the support of Open Society Initiative
for West Africa and the NJC’s Performance Evaluation Committee.
Justice Mukhtar noted that such SANs must be “working
in tandem” with the judges under probe.
According to her, corruption remains the Judiciary’s
major problem and NJC ensures that judges found culpable “are shown the way
out”.
She said: “Corruption has become a real cankerworm
that has refused to depart. We receive petitions and we have always tried to
hear from both sides because many times, many affected judges complain that
they are not given fair hearing.
“Some judges come with as many as six SANs to defend
them. I think the SANs are equally guilty. There was one that came with about
six SANS, which showed they were working in tandem.”
The CJN said many lawyers were quick to accuse the
Judiciary of being corrupt, yet refuse to report corrupt judges to the NJC.
Justice Mukhtar said: “You (lawyers) all know those
judges that are corrupt. You all do but you won’t report. You will be the one
who will raise the issue that the Judiciary is corrupt, but you will not do
your part.”
On independence of the Judiciary, the CJN said
insufficient funding should not be an excuse for a Chief Judge to make a
“nuisance” of himself at a Government House.
“I tell chief judges to manage what they have. Chief Judges
should maintain a distance. We should try as much as possible to resist
interference from the two other arms of government. The constitution guarantees
our independence and we should strive to establish this,” she said.
At the occasion, the Chief Justice of South Africa,
Justice Mogoeng Reetsang Mogoeng, said the Judiciary has what it takes to lead
in the turnaround of Africa’s image.
He urged the Judiciary to be “ruthless” in dealing
with corruption, adding that this was the only way it could develop the moral
courage to deal with corruption in the society.
“If there is one institution that can demonstrate that
power can be exercised without corruption, it is the Judiciary. We have to
start it. Only then can we deal as harshly as possible with corrupt people when
they’re brought before us,” Mogoeng said.
NBA President Okey Wali (SAN) said: “The government
must recognize that the Judiciary is the third arm of government.”
He urged the Federal Government to obey a recent judgment
of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which ordered that the Judiciary be funded
directly rather than through the Executive.
“The NBA reiterates that
government must recognize that it is only existence of a virile, fearless and
independent judiciary that can guarantee an enduring democratic government and
the maintenance of law and order,” Wali added.
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