A Nigerian lawyer says the current leadership of the judicial arm of government is undertaking necessary reforms that will restore the confidence of Nigerians on the judiciary.
The Nigerian judiciary has not met the expectations of Nigerians when it comes to concluding cases within a short period of time. Cases could take up to three to five years before judgements are given.
Looking at the performance of the judiciary in 2013 and the expectations in 2014, Mr Chukwuma Ezeala, said that the current head of the judiciary was the best thing that had happened to the arm of government in years.
“The Judiciary would do better this time because of the person at the helm of affairs,” he said.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the head of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, has reiterated her commitment to reforming the judiciary, a development Mr Ezeala said was yielding results.
“The NJC has been sending the right signals both to the Chief Justices of the States, Supreme Court Justices and the Court of Appeal Justices on the need to help restore the confidence of Nigerians on the Judiciary.
“Many judges, up to 15 of them, would be disciplined. This is a signal to other judges that may not want to behave well.
“These are also pointers showing that it would be better this year. We believe that the judiciary will finally help Nigeria solve some of its problems,” Mr Ezeala said on Friday on Channels Television’s programme, Sunrise Daily.
“If the overall head of the judiciary is doing well and has plan of action, particularly on how to make the judges deliver judgment in accordance with the law and take petitions up, the system will work better.
“Before, when you write petitions to judges, they will not respond or investigate. Now they know that they can be investigated and that gives us a little hope,” the legal practitioner stressed.
He, however, pointed out that there were areas that should be looked into in 2014.
The areas according to him are; expediency in delivering judgments and the appointment of judges.
“Being a bit fast in delivering judgement is a function of the system and part of their budget.
“If Nigeria’s budgeting system allows the judiciary to be modernised, it will help the judiciary put the necessary facilities in place that would help in delivering judgments as fast as possible.
Some of the facilities, he said, were computers in all the judges’ offices and recorders in all courts.
He stressed that the facilities would help the judges to be free and faster in the way cases are taken up.
On the appointment of judges, Mr Ezeala pointed out that the appointment system, which does not also necessarily depend on the judiciary, had a lot impact on the way judgments were delivered.
“If for instance you are appointing a judge and you appoint a judge that is computer literate, it is easier for the judge to move faster.
“It is easier for the judge to deliver judgement faster and send the judgement out for execution. Sometimes judgments are given and before they are out it takes a little more time,” he said.
Tackling Corruption In Nigeria
The level of corruption in Nigeria has become a thing of concern to international community and Nigerians in the Diaspora, a development that has also been attributed to the performance of the judiciary.
Mr Ezeala explained that the rot in the system had been there for more than 30 years, saying that the military contributed to it.
“When they (the military) came in, they sacked all judges that could perform better. They brought in their cronies who had all sorts of characters. The CJN is putting strategies in place to ensure that the judiciary is sanitised. It is not going to be magic because it is not revolution,” he said.
On election petitions, the lawyer also said that the head of the judiciary was trying to see how the judiciary could really finish election cases before the swearing-in.
He, however, pointed out that a proper conduct of elections by the electoral commission would help reduce the number of petitions.
“But more importantly is how INEC plays its role. If there are transparent elections, it will go a long way in reducing the level of cases that we will have. If elections petitions are much, we do not have enough judges to handle those cases.
“When you have 1,000 documents from different parties involved in a case, it becomes time consuming, but when INEC conducts elections well it will reduce the amount of cases brought before the judges.
“Not all judges can go into election tribunals. When judges are appointed to handle issues of elections, other cases would be suspended. The question then is; will they abandon other cases and face election petitions?
He further said that the judiciary had the responsibility of tackling corruption but called on the government to reform the education sector, as it had the potential of reducing corruption in Nigeria.
“We should be looking at education to stop corruption. When you have the right people from the education sector, you will think of reducing corruption,” the lawyer, who is optimistic of a better judicial system in 2014, emphasised.
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