With unabashed comments such as: “Justice in Nigeria is an illusion,” and “you know, the judiciary has lost its own honour and dignity,” in addition to another one stating that:

“The judges cannot claim impartiality when there are close personal relationships such as that between Wike and his wife,” there is indeed cause for serious concern. That is precisely so on assessing the statutory role of the justice system in Nigeria as “the last hope of the common man.”

While the first quoted statement came from renowned human rights activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, as the guest lecturer at an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the second quote was made by Auwal Musa Rafsanjani. He is the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre.

The third one was made by Barrister Olatodun Hassan, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)’s National Security Agencies Relations Committee.

The central theme in these entire comments dovetail to the crisis of confidence Nigerians currently have with regards to the dispensation of justice.

Though Sections 6(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provide the Judicial powers in a Federation and State shall be vested in the courts as established and Chapter 1, Part 2, Section 6 clearly spell out such functions, the dispensation of justice in recent years have come under scrutiny.

That is especially so with regards to some outrageous electoral malfeasance and controversial decisions made by the judges concerned. A few instances would suffice.

For instance, the controversial rulings during the 2023 general elections favoured Godswill Akpabio, the current Senate President, and his predecessor, Ahmad Lawan.

Though both contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries, they were, however, declared eligible for the race to the Senate by the courts! Controversial, is it not? Of course, that nod of approval runs against the grains of justice.

But both are there in the Red Chamber making laws for the common man. Yet, there have been more controversies sparked off by questionable court judgments that portends danger to the independence of Nigeria’s judiciary.

As he noted, the country’s judiciary is not designed to dispense justice but to do the bidding of the ruling elite, as their cases receive urgent attention

For instance, ever since the nauseating exhibition of the personalisation of political power between Nyesom Wike, former governor of Rivers state and his embattled successor, Sim Fubara, conflicting court judgments have worsened the crisis.

If it is not about the legally recognised law makers, the brickbats had swung political punches to the conduct of local government elections. Or, the release or not of federal allocations to the oil-rich state.

Such an aberrant scenario has exacerbated the image of the judiciary. And it brings to the public sphere again the statement made by Farotimi that: “We lie to ourselves believing that we can get justice from a system that is ‘hopelessly compromised.”

As he noted, the country’s judiciary is not designed to dispense justice but to do the bidding of the ruling elite, as their cases mostly receive urgent attention.

That is the crux of the matter and our source of serious concern. For an incumbent state governor with court litigation hovering around him to host the new Chief Justice of Nigeria to a lavish party is one question triggering anomaly.

But worsening the volatile judicial environment is that of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Wike, embarking on a controversial project to build 40 housing units for judicial officers’ right there in Abuja!

Even as concerned patriots ask why such largesse are not meant for teachers or nurses, he boasted that 70% of the budget is ready, including the furnishing costs. And added with bravado that the project would be completed in 15 months. As expected, it has received backlash from some civil society organisations and legal experts.

According to Olatodun Hassan: “Wike is displaying executive rascality at its peak… This compromises the integrity of our legal system.” We are worried that such an open display of might is right, irrespective of the dictates of the rule of law.

We are indeed compelled by this blatant violation of the procedure meant to be carried out by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to align our position with that of Barrister Juliet Ikhayere who described it as a “sting of bribery”.

The former African Democratic Congress (ADC) House of Representatives candidate also stated that it is: “An attempt to lure the judges into doing the bidding of the executive.”

The evolution of the unjust, unfair and unjustifiable dispensation of justice is tantamount to weakening the fabrics of Nigeria’s judiciary and should not stand.

From the empirical evidence as highlighted, we hereby call on members of the Executive to keep a safe distance from the judicial arm of government and offer it the full independence it deserves to dispense justice without fear or favour. And members of the judiciary should ensure that they operate within the ambits of the law. (New Telegraph Editorial)