Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu has said that the deteriorating integrity of Nigeria’s judiciary is driven by “politicisation of judicial appointments and lack of independence, amongst other issues”.
Odinkalu raised the concern during a radio town hall meeting on Public Sector Integrity in Nigeria, organised by the Progressive Impact Organisation for Community Development (PRIMORG), at the weekend in Abuja.
He said politicians have captured the judiciary with the independence of the institution gone, stressing that Nigerians must understand that that arm of government has been politically weaponised and corrupted by elites.
The human rights activist insisted that the judiciary was no longer serving the purpose of the masses but politicians and their associates whose children, cronies, and mistresses were getting appointments to the Bench.
He said:” It is not suitable for the Chief Justice of Nigeria to appoint his nephew to the Court of Appeal and his son to the Federal High Court or for the President of the Court of Appeal to appoint her son-in-law to the Bench and her daughter appointed to Plateau State High Court where she comes from. We are looking for the same people to protect us, and something is fundamentally wrong with them and the masses.
“Everyone should understand that the judiciary has been captured, politically weaponized and corrupted”.
Asked if reforms can restore the deteriorating integrity of Nigeria’s judiciary, Odinkalu said:” There are no reforms that will work unless we (Nigerians) deepen the de-politicization of the judiciary. This is because they (politicians) have captured the administrative processes which should have been performed in disciplining the judiciary – the Chief Justice is the owner of that one.
“They’ve captured the politics. The judges and politicians use the executive arm of the government to unseat people they don’t like, putting the ones they like in power. They have also captured the legislative process. The legislators are afraid of the judges”.
Odinkalu called on Nigerians to understand the issues and realise their responsibilities, adding that citizens are not as disempowered as they think; hence, the onus is now on the people to go and get back the institution of justice that politicians and elites have captured.
Civil society organisations and other participants during the town hall meeting spoke extensively on the administration of justice in Nigeria amidst a growing trust deficit.
Programme Manager at Integrity Organisation, Emmanuel Bosah noted that a lot of political will is needed to cure the rot in the judiciary currently while calling for judicial reforms and citizens to be empowered with the knowledge to follow up and hold the system to account.
A public good advocate, who is also a security and energy consultant, Kevin Fyneface called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mr. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola to come clean with appointments in the judiciary and work towards rebuilding the trust of the third arm of government.
He lamented that Nigeria is deeply rooted in nepotism and cronyism, noting that “where cronyism thrives, you will find corruption as the order of the day.”
On his part, a public servant and 2020 Integrity icon, Philip Ezegbulam advised his colleagues both at the federal and state levels to resist the temptation of corruption, while the Programme Manager of Accountability Lab Nigeria, Ehi Idakwo urged Nigerians not to be docile but proactive to corruption issues of the nation.
“I think citizens are not angry enough. We need to be angry enough to take action. If everyone takes action in writing a letter, in coming out to the streets to protest, in calling their representatives to know details of what is due the citizens, those are the kinds of actions needed right now”, he said.
The PRIMORG’s Town Hall Meeting Against Corruption series is aimed at calling the public and government attention to specific issues of corruption in Nigeria.
The syndicated radio programme runs with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
