By Igbotako Nowinta – Nigerian Bureau Chief
Abuja, Nigeria – Any attempt to destroy the Nigerian Judiciary by anyone, group or government in whatever guise will result in the destruction of the nation as it is a delicate component of the three tiers of government which represents the hope of the Nigerian people. So it must never be allowed to be destroyed by anyone, group or government.
These assertions were made on Thursday by Mr. Emmanuel Uche, Program Director of Justice for All (J4A), the organizers of a Two Day Civil Society Organizations Roundtable Assessment on Anti-Corruption in Nigeria.
The theme of the meeting is: The Judiciary, Rule of Law, & Public Interest, taking place at the Bolton White House Hotel, Area 11 Garki Abuja, Nigeria.
Mr. Uche posited that Civil Society Organizations and well-meaning Nigerians must keep aflame the candle of anti-corruption and raise it up so that generations yet unborn can be empowered adequately to tackle corruption in the country.
According to the frontline activist, every society gets whatever it deserves and that the Judiciary was getting the heat because it allowed some bad elements to injure the sanctity inherently built within it. “If the Judiciary is destroyed, Nigeria will be destroyed and our future would have been destroyed,” he warned.
Mr. Uche regretted that the Judiciary got to this disturbing level where some Supreme Court Justices and other category of lawyers in Nigeria are being docked in open Court, which had never happened before, because over the years basic professional principles were compromised in favor of corruption, incompetence and nepotism
High ranking civil society leaders and organizations from all the geo-political zones are attending the round table which will end today November 25, 2016.
Participants and resource persons collectively agreed that civil society activists must be able to feed far reaching ideas into the system in order to sanitize the judicial sector in Nigeria, to build the integrity, discipline and independence of all strata of judicial operation.
The need to streamline and review the activities of the various anti-graft agencies into one cohesive and result oriented body was overwhelmingly raised by participants, to stop issues of overlap, unnecessary delays in dispensation of justice and systemic financial wastages.
The legal interpretative inconsistencies displayed by some senior judges in the case involving some governorship candidates within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State of Nigeria, pertaining to the Ondo State Governorship Elections drew the flak of the round table, as they advised politicians to put their house in order, while urging the relevant authorities in Nigeria to create special courts to attend to electoral related issues
The urgent need for the National Judicial Council (NJC) to be reformed to reflect true transparency, neutrality and independence, and the need for the federal government to operate within the boundaries of the rule of law equally attracted the attention of the round table. A communique is expected to come out of the round table at the end of the event.
