Prior to his elevation as a justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2012, Niki Tobi, JSC (rtd.), an erudite jurist, perfectly encapsulated the professional ethics and personal traits a judge must jealously guide and consciously exhibit respectively at every material time in the 1999 Court of Appeal case presided by him alongside john Afolabi Fabiyi JCA and Musa Dattijo Muhammad JCA on the electoral matter between Dr. Nnamdi Eriobuna & ORS v. Ikechukwu Obiorah.
Niki Tobi ( delivered the leading judgement) posited that “a Judge by the nature of his position and professional calling, is expected to be straight forward, upright, diligent, consistent and open in whatever he does in court and in other places of human endeavour that he happens to find himself. This is because his character as a Judge is public property.
He is the cynosure of the entire adjudication in the court, and like Caesar’s wife of Ancient Rome, he is expected to live above board and above suspicion, if the judicial process should not experience any reverse or suffer detriment. A Judge should know that by the nature of his judicial functions, he is persistently and consistently on trial for any improper conduct immediately before, during and immediately after the trial of a case.”
The Obiter dictum/judicial comment made by Niki Tobi has long been adopted by various heads of Nigeria’s judiciary as caputs of their inauguration speeches for the newly appointed judges and the elevated Benchers (judges).
In a practical sense, the prescribed legal and ethical standards have turned into mere citations which have little or no reflection on the official discharge and day-to-day activities of Nigeria’s judges. The blatant appearance of legal impropriety and ethical misconduct in the discharge of judicial functions has become an eyesore to the virtue and integrity of the revered judicial institution.
The gross corruption in Nigeria’s judiciary undoubtedly reflected in the majority judgement that affirmed Ahmad Lawan as the authentic candidate of the APC for Yobe North Senatorial District despite his non-participation in the primary election.
The incessant conflicting ex-parte orders of the courts of coordinate jurisdiction particularly on similar political matters has exposed the cankerworm that has eaten deep into the judicial fabric. The administration of justice has out rightly turned into quid pro quo agreements. The highest political bidders are recklessly granted favourable orders.
The judicial anomaly has reached where the court has become a shield and constantly come to the rescue of some selected political elite that have criminal and corruption cases hanging on their neck.
The court now tactically restrains the security operatives and anti-corruption agency from performing their statutory duties on politicians alleged of criminal and fraudulent activities. Many former governors, lawmakers, heads of various government parastatals have successfully obtained court injunction from being arrested and investigated by the security operatives and anti-corruption agency.
The current state of Nigeria’s judiciary has been inapposite to the Sec 17 (2) (e) of the 1999 constitution, as amended, which provides for the independence, impartiality and integrity of judges in handling cases.
The Code of Conduct for judicial officers which has been revised for the umpteenth times has remained a paper tiger. In 2016, the National Judicial Council (NJC) launched the National Judiciary Policy (NJP) as part of its anti-corruption crusade. The NJP initiative seems to have become a relic of history.
Obviously, all the extant laws and administrative initiatives to curb racketeering and guarantee incorruptible judicial institution have been ineffective. Corruption itself has been institutionalized within Nigeria’s judiciary.
The menace can be effectively curbed with the outright dismissal and prosecution of erring serving judges. The disciplinary action should also be extended to retired judges whose corrupt dealings become public knowledge after service.
Public-faith judicial system has been the veil between tranquillity and instability in every democratic state. The interpretation of laws to achieve justice has been the purview of citizens in many developed democratic states.
In Nigeria, an average citizen perceives the judicial institution has an instrument to twist laws for the sake of some vested interest. The country is on the verge of anarchy as its judicial institution seems to have lost integrity, public confidence and professionalism.
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It behoves on the NJC to formulate and apply stringent disciplinary actions in respect to unethical behaviours of judges. In 2019, Rodolfo Delgado, a former district judge in Texas, was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice in exchange for favourable judicial considerations in his courtroom. In 2022, Sylvia Ash, a former justice of the New York State Supreme Court, was sentenced to 15 months jail term for perverting the course of justice.
The United States of America (USA) dismissal and prosecution’s approaches to tackling corruption at the heart of its justice system ought to be emulated in Nigeria. The NJC should therefore be sincere and decisive in its anti-corruption crusade.
The body must stop shielding unscrupulous judges and reabsorbing the ones indicted into the country’s judicial system. A tsunami/public revolt which may not be quenched with repression is looming against Nigeria’s judiciary. Every judge must ensure that the instrumentality of law is targeted at upholding the rule of law and achieving justice irrespective of one’s political and economic status.
Azeez writes from Newworth LLP (Legal Practitioners), Onikan, Lagos
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