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Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN has tasked judges to maintain the sanctity and credibility of the court and shun the act of making justice a commodity for sale to the highest bidder in Nigeria.
Malami,who gave the warning in his address at the 2021 legal year ceremony of the Court Of Appeal held in Abuja, also implored judicial officers to ensure that the sacred integrity reposed on them remain unshaken at all times in order to foster and promote public confidence in all rulings that emanate from the court.
“Your resolved, as a temple of justice in ensuring that justice is not trivialized to a common bargain and is in effect accessible to all is highly commendable .I hereby also extend a call of solidarity, reverence and respect for the courts and court processes, to all our learned distinguished colleagues here present to ensure that justice is not trivialised to a commodity bargained for and taken by the highest bidder, at the detriment of the indigent who for want of equal bargaining power, wallow in the shadows of judicial neglect” the AGF said.
According to him, uniformity, consistency and universality of judgement and rulings in the face of judicial precedent arevexceptional value of judicial system that must at all times strive to uphold as a way of upholding the sanctity of the judiciary in re-enacting the confidence of the common man in our judicial system.
Meanwhile,the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, has disclosed that salaries of judicial officers have been stagnated for over 10 years.
She lamented that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who is the head of the Judiciary in Nigeria, as at today takes home N279,497.00 as monthly salary, while his brother Justices on the Supreme Court bench go home the sum of N206,425.00
She spoke at the maiden edition of the opening of 2021/2022 legal year of the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
She said as President of Court of Appeal, she receives the sum of N206,425.00 while other Justices on the bench of the Court of Appeal, go home with N166,285.00 every month. END.
She emphasized the need for the Federal Government to consider upward review of salaries of judicial officers in the country.
But the Nigerian Bar Association on Monday said the conduct of some politicians, judicial officers and lawyers are “disturbing” and consequently dragging the reputation of the country’s judiciary to the mud.
He said:”In more specific terms, it is particularly disturbing how politicians, aided by the conduct of some of our colleagues, appear to be bringing disrepute to the hallowed chambers in their battles for political supremacy.
“Their target is to make a mockery of an institution that must always inspire confidence, trust and fairness.
“In particular, what may appear to be the ignoble roles and potential judicial rascality of some of Judges in the internal political crises of a major political party and the primary elections of a State few weeks ago, were eyesores better imagined than experienced” Akpata said.
He added that the brutal use of force by those entrusted with the executive powers of the state, and the tendencies of men of means to corrupt the polity and to pervert the cause of justice has clearly demonstrated to Nigerians that no one is safe if there is no justice.
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