By Muiz Banire, SAN
What really is unveiling in the last one week or thereabout is disturbing as allegation of compromise of the institution of judiciary has become a regular item in public discourse. While it is disturbing when such allegations are made during the election petitions period, it is more worrisome when the institution is not spared even when there are no elections. The issue of Rivers State has brought to the fore again the issue of compromise of the judiciary.
The ways and manners orders are flying between Port Harcourt and Abuja is mind boggling, to the extent that each dramatis personae now appears to have his preferred jurisdiction. Politicians may not be cured of the malaise of wanting to influence all institutions to serve their personal political interests, but an institution that cannot survive perception of compromise is the judiciary. It is an old aphorism that Caesar’s wife must be above board and our judicial officers must be able to resist politician’s destructive influences.
The case of the judiciary dancing to the tune of the highest bidder or bowing to primordial influences of power is that of an institution preparing itself for self-immolation. It is a case of a sword destroying its home and claiming it is injuring the scabbard. Once the public loses confidence completely in the institution, no one takes his case there and the outcome is settlement of disputes by self-help. We are all now living witnesses to comic statements, often genuinely now made in the country, “go to court”, the implication of which is simply to proceed to court to waste your time, or obtain injustice. This depicts the helplessness and hopelessness the institution for the administration of justice has been reduced to. As most commentators now put it, the judiciary is the lost hope of the common man. This speaks volume to the precarious situation of the judiciary.
In my X (Twitter) intervention of last Sunday, I had called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to rise up to the occasion that is fast leading to the demise of the institution. It is gladdening to read the very next day the setting up of a panel by the Council to probe, not only the conflicting judgments of the different courts on the Rivers State issues, but the embarrassment and ridicule the judicial institution is being subjected to. In that intervention, I demanded that the Council must probe situations in which political litigants leave the natural territory of dispute only to institute cases in another unconnected jurisdiction.
No case of forum shopping can be worse than what we are experiencing now. Beyond the abuse of jurisdictions, some judicial officers are also getting reputed to be highly disposed to giving favourable decisions to whomsoever can grease their greed.
The authorities cannot pretend to be unaware of such perception of the public. Discreet efforts must be made to fish out such officials otherwise the regulatory authorities would not be different from the proverbial ostrich. In addition, as these extremely few continue to smear the comfortable majority of the judges who are above board, I also pray that the clean judges resist the attempt to be guilty by association by exposing the bad eggs.
They need, through whatever means, to start exculpating themselves. In the sanitization exercise, we must not leave out the culpable lawyers, particularly seniors that are involved in the sleezy practice? As gladdening as it is to hear of the establishment of the panel, this is not the first time we are witnessing this without any remarkable change. All eyes are, therefore, on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, and by extension, the Council on this.
As widely acknowledged, justice is rooted in perception. The situation the dramatis personae have driven the institution to is deplorable. Although, it is common knowledge that for some time now, the institution is wobbling but we must not permit it to collapse, as predicted by some prophets of doom. As I write this piece, I must confess that I am in a depressed state. The depression is borne out of the multiple and several afflictions beleaguering the judiciary and the dispensation of justice in the country. It seems that as we address one, several others are creeping in. The scenario is now partaking of the Yoruba proverb that, egbinrin ote, bi a se n pa ‘kan, n’’kan n ru. Nothing could be so frustrating as to be crusading over an institution, while the institution is not reciprocating by way of impressive conduct, at least by way of perception.
This is truly my predicament. I believe so much in the judiciary as an institution, not merely because I am legal practitioner but due to my love for justice. As recommended by the prophetic tradition in Islam, my religion, I am ever prepared to die for the cause of justice. If there is anything I cannot endure, it is injustice. I have actively and practically spent almost four decades of my life, not only in pursuit of justice in Nigeria but have equally been sermonizing justice by way of lectures at all levels. This certainly is not out of joblessness but for the love of the institution.
When I now notice the institution eclipsing, I get devastated. As I remarked above, it is certainly no news that the image of the institution has for some time now been under scrutiny, to put it mildly and courteously; but it becomes worrisome where the triggers are unabating, but rather festering.
One is further bewildered as all the efforts of genuine stakeholders are gaining not so much traction. It is now becoming a case of the more we struggle to salvage the situation, the more the situation is degenerating. The tearful situation is best appreciated when one realizes that the only permanent institution/organ of governance is the judiciary. While in any military intervention, the executive and the legislature are often causalities, the judiciary is usually insulated.
Check for Part 2 of this story
Sanitizing the judiciary: Task that must be urgently done (2)