Judgement for sale
•NBA raises alarm over cash-and-carry verdicts
•Judicial officers endanger democracy -Sagay
•Musdapher reads riot act to judges

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) yesterday bemoaned the rot in the judiciary, raising the alarm that court judgments are now given on cash and carry basis. This development, according to the body of lawyers, is the root cause of the growing number of political assassinations, unresolved killings and terrorism in the country.

The NBA’s concern came as the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, announced a total overhauling of the judiciary to improve efficiency and enhance public perception regarding its capacity to dispense justice without blemish.

In what appears like cleansing the Augean stable, the CJN said the apex court is liaising with the executive and legislature to facilitate several amendments to the constitution and other laws to bring about judicial efficiency and probity.

In line with his reform agenda, Justice Musdapher warned judges against the application of procedural rules and technicalities that do not lead to the attainment of substantial justice as it was clearly against modern trends of adjudication and should be reversed.

Justice Musdapher disclosed that a reform committee would soon be inaugurated to look into the problems of the judiciary and proffer solutions to the myriad of problems confronting the third arm of government.

The Acting CJN said the National Judicial Council (NJC), the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) and the National Judicial Institute (NJI) are to be restructured and repositioned to improve on their capacities to meet their constitutional and statutory roles.
The NBA president, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), and Justice Musdapher spoke separately yesterday at the special session of the Supreme Court to mark the commencement of the 2011 Legal Year.
Mr. Daudu had, while speaking on corruption and the justice system, said there is empirical evidence that justice had been purchased on several occasions in the country.

While accusing justices of the various election tribunals as major culprits on this travesty of justice, Daudu feared that modern democratic society would cease to exist where confidence is lost in the justice system.
His words; “There is a growing perception backed up by empirical evidence that justice is purchasable and it had been purchased on several occasions in Nigeria. We are reaching the point in time where accusations of corruption in the system will be at its loudest. The various election tribunals are in the process of delivering judgments. The Court of Appeal is beginning to deal with interlocutory appeals and some final decisions in some governorship disputes.

“Already, the strain or effect of the over balkanization of the intermediate appellate court into numerous divisions by way of conflicting decisions on very serious matters in the electoral process is beginning to be felt. An example is the court’s decision on the manner of initiating pre-hearing session, which is a prelude or condition precedent to the actual hearing of an election petition. As things stand today, the decisions of the Abuja, Makurdi, Calabar and Kaduna divisions of the Court of Appeal on the matter are conflicting.

“This state of affairs does not help the judicial process. Firstly, people read meanings into the inability of high-ranking judges to state a clear position on a simple matter of the interpretation of a statute. Secondly, discordance will ultimately, exacerbate recourse to self-help and extra-judicial measures. No wonder assassinations, unresolved killings and terrorism are on the rise in Nigeria. The root cause is the failure to provide authentic, credible and indeed, realistic justice to Nigerians.
While eulogizing the virtues of Justice Musdapher, the NBA said it would not bother him with all the gory details of the ills that currently afflict the judiciary and the legal profession.

However, the NBA said all these would be ventilated upon at a restorative forum with him just as it announced the convocation of a national summit on the state of the legal profession to re-visit the problems confronting not only the judiciary, but also the entire legal profession.
Earlier, Justice Musdapher called on judges and judicial officers to remain politically neutral and rise up to safeguard our fledging democracy.

According to him, “we must deflect the tides of impropriety and immunize the entire judicial system against all different iniquities, adding that as judges of our courts, we must act according to the highest dictates of our conscience.
“We must be guided by the fundamental values and principles of constitutional democracy as well as the value of simple decency. Our judgments and pronouncements must not appear to be against the essence of justice. Surely, the application of these broad principles cannot produce judgments that appear unfair or unjust.”

In addition to the proposed amendments, the CJN announced that the current mode of judicial appointments must also be reviewed with due emphasis on diversity of experience to add quality to judicial deliberations.
Besides, he spoke of plans to commence a process where members of the Bar aspiring to judicial office may apply to join the Bench based on objective and transparent criteria.

He disclosed that the apex court had disposed off 166 cases comprising of judgments and 85 motions, adding however that there are still other 1, 149 civil appeals, 58 criminal appeals and 177 motions are pending before the court.
“It is clear that based on the existing realities, even if we had a full complements of 21 justices of the court, it will still take years before the backlog is cleared notwithstanding the increasing spate of new cases that are being filed almost everyday.”

Others, who spoke at the ceremony, included the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), who was represented by the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General of the Federation, Alhaji Abdulahi Yola and former justice minister Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN) on behalf of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

While the AGF expressed the need for the Supreme Court to have its full complement of 21 Justices, Akinjide condemned the creation of the division of the Court of Appeal as he called for the setting up of committee for the reformation of the judiciary and the Bar.
Dignitaries at the event include Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambawal, who was fully robed; Justice Muhammed Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria; Justice James Ogebe , retired Supreme Court Justice and Justice Mustapha Akanbi, ex- President of the Court of Appeal, amongst others.