There have been talks of rings of lawyers or a cabal of lawyers who are so stitched into the corrupt fabric of the judiciary that they have become experts in questionable court actions and misapplication of law. They do this, usually in cahoots with obliging judges.
The fact stands that the quality of some judges, who ought to be held to higher standards of character and integrity, is highly questionable. Recently, the NJC sacked the duo of Justice O. Gbajabiamila of the Lagos State High Court and Justice Doris M. J. Evuti of the Niger State High Court. Gbajabiamila got the boot for repeated flagrant non-compliance with court rules, while Evuti was shown the door for the falsification of age. Such incidents are a regular occurrence and petitions are flying in by the day.
The reality is that while many of the shortcomings of the judges are seldom tied, by evidence, to bribery and the trading of favours, the saying that there is no smoke without fire will permit one to take the sheer number of allegations as an indication of some level of complicity.
Within the grapevines of the legal profession, judges with questionable characters are well known, and ‘motion for hire’ judges have developed a reputation that ‘brings business their way,’ so to speak, through equally questionable lawyers who are an active part of these grapevines. As is the age-long legal rule, suspicions and allegations remain exactly that, in the absence of evidence and a firm judgement of a court verifying their truth and veracity. As such, one cannot put down names for the simple reason of not wanting to fall foul of the law relating to libellous publications.
The truth is that many judges have become gods unto themselves, dispensing cases at their whim and fraternising with prospective litigants behind closed doors. It is no longer uncommon for litigants to visit judges even within their official space, which, even if done innocently, already defeats the aim of justice. In a system where one can now label a judge either as a PDP judge or APC judge, we are indeed in trouble. This is not to say these practices do not occur in other countries.
Certainly, judges are human. It is the impunity with which our judges do not attempt to separate duty from personal bias, that really astonishes. Careless comments of ‘take it on appeal’ are also commonplace, with the underlying message being that “justice is not dispensed at this level”. At the upper courts, even though the judges show more dexterity and meticulous consideration of issues before them, the more sensitive matters somehow produce the most perplexing judgments and omissions which are quickly overruled. To an unfamiliar observer of legal traditions, for a superior court to overrule itself is tantamount to admitting that it made a mistake. Where the mistakes seem to come in cases with the highest stakes and surrounded by the most suspicion of bias and bribery, it is left to anyone’s imagination why this is so. The now famous Rotimi Amaechi judgment that installed a governor that never ran for election is an authority on perplexing decisions of the Supreme Court that departs from the traditionally sound and reasoned decisions of that court.
The truth is: if we are so keen on getting rid of corruption and impunity in the system, how come the government and policy makers seem to turn a blind eye to all the nonsense that has afflicted the country’s judiciary, an arm of government that should be sanitised and made pure in order to fight the monster called corruption to a standstill?
There have been talks of rings of lawyers or a cabal of lawyers who are so stitched into the corrupt fabric of the judiciary that they have become experts in questionable court actions and misapplication of the law. They do this usually in cahoots with obliging judges. They network and trade favours and questionable contacts seamlessly within the court systems. It is sometimes so bad that a case may become a mere playing to the gallery by lawyers and judges who already know the outcome of such ‘show cases’ – cases that are for show only. Lawyers that represent part of those rings or cabals can be found on opposing sides clawing at each other in the courtroom, bedazzling the sometimes unsuspecting litigants who give them kudos. The theatrics end there as backroom meetings have already concluded which side is to make the mistake that will lead to the favourable outcome desired by the bankroller who could be a litigant or an altogether separate party from the proceedings. As the saying goes, he who pays the piper, calls the tune. This exclusive club of manipulators run nationwide and it includes the most sought-after names in the legal profession that charge a fortune. It may all seem rather far-fetched, but legal insiders know this for a fact.
The lawmakers who should be concerned and who routinely set up spurious committees to probe judicial shortcomings, are amongst the biggest abusers of the system. They are the ones with the means to pay the rates of hiring these rings or cabals and actively network in golf clubs and behind closed doors with these highly placed legal manipulators. Other members of the public, rich and not-so-rich, actively seek to influence the system, thereby feeding the monster of injustice and later turn around to cry foul when the tables are turned on them.
In May this year, Sahara Reporters, an online news medium, reported how a former governor of Benue State had reached a financial agreement with a judge who presided over corruption charges involving the former governor to ensure he would get a “soft landing”. According to that report, the illegal collaboration involved the payment of the medical bills of a relative of the judge, well in line with the mode of obtaining questionable gifts by some judges accused in the past.
The state of the Nigerian judiciary and the existence of these well-connected unscrupulous network that also includes court registrars, is reflective of the moral decay that plagues the society as a whole. Where allegations of forgery are argued and decided in a suit commenced by Originating Summons which ought to be used for non-contentious issues, no lettered observer will be of the opinion that the absurdity of the situation would have been lost on the judge in question.
One may, therefore, be forgiven if he impugns on the character of the already controversial judge. The matter is made worse by the now worn tactic of duplicating court cases by filing on the same issue in another jurisdiction after obtaining unfavourable outcomes before an uncooperative judge. Justice Abang’s assumption of jurisdiction was despite the decision of a court of co-ordinate jurisdiction in Owerri, presided over by Justice Ambrose Allagoa, which dismissed the forgery case against Ikpeazu. This is similar to Justice Abdulkadir Kafarati of the Federal High Court assuming jurisdiction to determine whether the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) could sit on a matter against the embattled Senate President, Bukola Saraki, even after the Supreme Court had decided that the CCT was competent to entertain a matter against the Senate President. Whether the 2 billion naira found in the judge’s account by EFCC had anything to do with the oversight is anyone’s guess.
As always, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. And controversial judges and anyone suspected of being a member of any of the numerous rings or cabals of judicial manipulators, can hide behind this. One thing that is also certain is that the system has loopholes in the form of men and women of questionable character and those that dare to speak out are easily and quickly eased out of the system – again, Salami comes to mind. Where those that play along become too notorious and become a liability, they are dismissed in a not-so-decisive fashion. Herein lies the tragedy of the Nigerian judiciary. The truth is: if we are so keen on getting rid of corruption and impunity in the system, how come the government and policy makers seem to turn a blind eye to all the nonsense that has afflicted the country’s judiciary, an arm of government that should be sanitised and made pure in order to fight the monster called corruption to a standstill? Perhaps, because those at the top also benefit from the immoral racket in the temple of justice, they are, more or less, inclined to look elsewhere while the foundation of the country rots away.
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