A former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, wants President Muhammadu Buhari to ask the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to investigate corrupt judges.
The presidency, according to him, should also copy the Kenyan model to rid the nation’s judiciary of corruption, while kicking against quota system in appointing judges.
Salami, speaking at the 8th Annual Forum of the laureates of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) and the Award in Abuja, said Chief Judges of both the State and Federal High Courts should have a prescribed tenure of not more than five years
“In the circumstance, corruption being criminal in nature, a solution that can be proffered is that judicial officers who are suspected of committing crime should be referred to the State Security Services, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) or the Nigeria Police for investigation and possible prosecution,” he said.
“For those of them who are found culpable or liable, the President may consider giving them soft landing by allowing them to resign and proceed on compulsory retirement or permit the law to take its due course.
“The present situation where there are serious allegations of corruption against a judicial officer in several petitions and the National Judicial Council let him off the hook on investigation of only one of the several petitions and retires him seemingly suggests that the interest of justice has not been served.
“The outstanding petition(s) should also be sent to the police for necessary action. A recently compulsorily retired judicial officer trivialized the decision of the National Judicial Council by saying that he was not retired on the allegation that he received one hundred million naira from the executive governor of Rivers State to nullify the election of local government chairmen and it was not in relation to Odi but it was in relation to Shell case; whatever that may mean.
“The outstanding petitions ought to have been investigated and pronounced upon to determine whether he merits retirement or dismissal. Merely sending the officer on retirement without an order for refund of the booty is grossly inadequate. Be that as it may, these are criminal cases and should not terminate with NJC decision. Such judicial officers should be referred to the relevant security agencies for investigation and determination of their criminal responsibility.”
Salami asked the presidency to send a team to understudy the Kenyan model of tackling corruption in the judiciary.
His words: “In the alternative, government might wish to consider taking steps similar to what I understand Kenya took in combating such vexed issues. When the country decided to rid its judicial system of corruption, she suspended all her judicial officers and subjected them to an enquiry.
“The tests and criteria adopted, I learnt, in addition to the usual allegation of corruption to which the judge may answer with the typical contention of lack of evidence was that the judgment(s) or order(s) of the judge or justice or khadi, as the case may be, were subjected to scrutiny and if found correctly determined, the officer is allowed to return to the Bench.
“But if the judgment(s) or order(s) was found wanting or flew in the face of the law or facts or both, the judge was deemed corrupt or incompetent; on either view, he was found unsuitable for the position and was consequently shown the way out of the country’s judicial system.
“Thus the contention that corruption had not been proved in the sense that there was no evidence or there was no corroboration would no longer be tenable. Clearly, this approach does not provide room or opportunity for crass technicality.
“This suggestion may require the Commander-in-Chief sending a team to Kenya to study the relevant institution in that country and the role to be played by our National Assembly. The exploratory team may also obtain the relevant legislation Kenya enacted to put the body in place. In doing this, respectable men of integrity must be selected.”
The former President of the Court of Appeal recommended a five-year tenure for Chief Judges of both the State and Federal High Courts.
He said: “the Chief Judges of both the State and Federal High Courts should have a prescribed tenure of not more than five years during which they are considered for appointment to the Court of Appeal or proceed on voluntary retirement. A long tenure sometimes spanning over ten years is most unhealthy.
“An aspiring candidate for the offices of Chief Justice of Nigeria, President of Court of Appeal, Chief Judges, federal or state or any head of court whose age is less than five years from the age of retirement should not be appointable. Frequent change of heads of courts results in instability.
Salami also said eradication of corruption in the judiciary should start with the appointment of judges.
He said: “The fight against corruption in the judiciary should commence from the appointment of judges or justices to the various courts across the country. The sifting should start with the quality of university degree and the law school grade.
“In this age of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, which allows a student with five credits at two sittings to gain admission into university, prospective candidates for appointment to the bench without five credits at a sitting should not be considered.
“So also must aspiring judges with a university degree lower than a second class (lower division) not be considered; and all those who repeated their examinations at the Law School should not be deemed suitable for appointment to the Bench.
“In the United States of America, to qualify as a legal assistant to a justice, one must have obtained a first class in his law degree. It should equally be further noted that in that country, law is pursued as a second and not a first degree.”
He also urged the nation to do away with the use of quota system in the appointment of judges at all level, including the Supreme Court.
He said: “The controversial question of the policy of federal character euphemistically referred to as quota system should be carefully re-examined in its application to the judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court and to a lesser extent the Court of Appeal.
” There was a time when the Nigerian judiciary was dominated by expatriates and later by the then Western Nigeria, but, with rapid progress in legal education various parts of the country took up the challenge and have come to take their pride of place in the system.
“The present situation whereby the seats in the Supreme Court are shared among the geographical zones in a water tight arrangement is unhealthy.”
