It is another wake-up call to rid the judiciary of bad eggs
While addressing some Nigerians based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Muhammadu Buhari recently declared that the judiciary is his major headache in his avowed fight against corruption in Nigeria. He recounted how the judiciary “frustrated” his past efforts in becoming the president of the country in 2003, 2007 and 2011, where he spent varying number of months struggling to prove that he won those elections. He noted particularly that but for God and technology, even his 2015 presidential attempt would have also been a failure.
No doubt, Buhari’s arrival at the nation’s commanding post has changed both the rhythm and tempo of activities of the anti-graft agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). With the arrest and arraignment of many “big men” on accusations of corruption, it is safe to conclude that the battle has begun.
However, President Buhari’s comment seems to suggest that rather than complement his efforts, the judiciary is a cog in the wheel of the fight against graft. And there are justifications for the accusation. With allegations of judges being bribed to grant lengthy and frivolous injunctions to persons accused of corruption, as well as senior counsels dwelling hugely on legal technicalities to drag and delay the trials of their clients, there are indeed issues that need to be addressed by the bar and the bench.
Those who believe the judiciary has not sufficiently aligned with the fight against corruption cite the very few cases of convictions which end up with slap-on-the-wrist punishments. Many suspects, especially those accused of stealing huge sums of money, have also managed to wriggle out of the judicial noose by employing the services of lawyers who are adept at making cases to go on in courts endlessly.
However, those who believe President Buhari was hasty in his declaration also note that too often, anti-graft agencies undertake shoddy prosecutions as they merely savour the media hype of arraigning high-profile persons without diligently providing the evidence to nail those they arraign. It would seem that those who man these agencies are more interested in the drama than bringing culprits to justice. With that, many senior counsels defending persons accused of corruption exploit the prosecution’s weaknesses to render convictions impossible.
Even at that, there are indeed challenges that should be highlighted. Over the years, the budgetary allocation to the judicial arm of government has declined. Poor funding not only retards efficient service delivery, it also inadvertently makes some of the judges vulnerable to the temptation of receiving gratifications from corrupt persons standing trial in their courts. Such compromises imperil the course of justice and thus weaken the anti-corruption crusade.
As we have repeatedly argued, the gravest danger that confronts our society is inequality of access to opportunities. This is compounded by an open segregation in terms of the punishment which our judicial system prescribes and metes out to offenders in the public realm. While poor people get severe sentences for stealing tubers of yam, privileged citizens who commit heinous offences have repeatedly gotten light or cosmetic sentences. These range from corrupt politicians to fraudulent bank CEOs and other classes of high-heeled fraudsters. It is almost the unwritten rule that in Nigeria there are separate judicial regimes for the rich and the poor.
Such disposition is not only a threat to the fight against corruption, it indulges unscrupulous persons to believe they can always get away with their crime with the right price. We therefore call on members of the National Judicial Council (NJC) not to dismiss the remark of the president with a wave of the hand, but rather, they should see it as another wake-up call in the bid to rid our judiciary of bad eggs.
