The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, recently bemoaned the rot in the nation’s judiciary and called for urgent reforms of our legal systems. The monarch, who spoke at the recent Annual general Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association in Enugu, Enugu State, condemned the obscene corruption in the nation’s justice system. The fearless Royal father regretted that “justice is increasingly becoming a purchasable commodity and the poor are becoming victims of this kind of justice, while the rich commit all manner of crimes and walk the streets scot-free.”
The theme of the conference, “Stand Out, Stand Tall,” was timely and apt. We urge the lawyers to heed the Sultan’s advice on “continuing efforts at law reforms to gradually decolonize our laws and make them closer to our values, culture and history; addressing social justice to tackle glaring inequalities and foster cohesion; and improving access to justice, especially considering the rising cost of litigation and the exclusion of the weak and vulnerable.”
The Sultan’s view, which is the unvarnished truth about the nation’s judiciary, is representative of the views of other Nigerians, who believe that our judiciary is no longer the last hope of the proverbial common man. Our justice system has been bastardized and trivialized to the extent that people no longer trust the priests at our temple of justice. The recent controversial judgements emanating from our various courts, especially on election matters, are pointers to judicial corruption.
Such judgements, which tarnish the image of our judiciary, have equally attracted harsh and due criticisms from Nigerians. In our legal system, mere technicalities are enthroned against the substance of laws. This judicial aberration and rascality have led to multiple rulings on the same case from different courts of the same jurisdiction and forum shopping.
Unfortunately, the National Judicial Council (NJC), the ombudsman of the judiciary, has not been bold enough to adequately sanction some of the erring judicial officers. It is no longer hidden that justice now goes to the highest bidder, while the poor are denied justice. At the height of ex-President Muhamamdu Buhari’s administration, a sting operation was carried out on corrupt judges. Although the transparency of the exercise was doubtful, it nevertheless underlined the endemic corruption in the nation’s judiciary.
It is commendable that he Sultan challenged lawyers to ensure that the legal profession is one of honour in which truth and fairness are prioritized above money and personal interests. “It is only when the legal profession leads by example that the public can trust the system again,” he stated. He further declared that “this is a chance for the NBA to truly stand out and stand tall.”
We align with the Sultan’s submission that the legal profession must be committed to upholding the rule of law to guarantee fairness, accountability and equality before the law. The lawyers must guide against compromising the integrity of the judicial system through corruption and inequality. As the third arm of government, the judiciary must boldly and fearlessly stand out and tall to serve as a check to the others arms. The judiciary must resist the bully of the executive arm and ward-off its attempt to interfere in judicial matters or control it.
At the Enugu conference, other notable speakers such as Femi Falana (SAN), Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and Usman Ogwu Sule (SAN) tasked lawyers on enforcement socio-economic rights of the citizens and the Electoral Act 2022. Falana urged lawyers to champion the enforcement of citizen’s socio-economic rights, adding that true security cannot exist without the welfare of the people. Falana lamented that socio-economic rights have remained largely aspirational due to their non-justiciability. “A nation that is free from bullets but not from hunger, disease, joblessness, squalor, or illiteracy is not secure. It is merely quiet,” Falana said. Ezekwesili lampooned the federal government’s handling of subsidy removal and described it as a good policy implemented in the wrong way. “You represent the very heartbeat of professionalism in our country. In any society, it is important that we do not laugh away or trivialize the difficult conditions in which we found ourselves as a people,” she stated. On the other hand, Sule urged the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor party primaries and ensure that its reports are binding on the political parties. He also made a case for purposive interpretation of electoral laws to reduce party impunity. Above all, lawyers must ensure that the rule of law prevails and champion the crusade to rid the judiciary of bad eggs.
