Former NBA President Akpata says politicians have taken over Nigeria’s Judiciary.
The Immediate past President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata has blamed politicians for the corruption in the judiciary.
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Newsonline reports that Akpata said politicians took over the judiciary to have their grip on power.
Akpata disclosed this at a panel session at the ongoing International Bar Association conference in the United States of America.
He added that there is corruption in the judiciary with judges being offered bribes, according to a video published by The Nigeria Lawyer.
“Judiciary capture is no longer as brazen as it was before but it is insidious, and in my jurisdiction what happens is that from the point of view of appointment, the process is opaque. So people who are not supposed to be on the Bench, get to the Bench,” he said in the video.
“The judiciary is also starved of funds. There is no financial autonomy, so they have to run to the executive for everything including their salaries. They are poorly paid which impedes their ability to function properly.
“Thirdly, there is intimidation which includes raids on the homes of Judges by 11, 12 midnight. And lastly, there is corruption, where they are just offered bribes.
“The whole point is a result of the desire by the politicians to use the judiciary as a tool for political contestation.
“Because politicians recognise that the way to political power now is the judiciary, they do everything to take over the appointment process, ensure the judiciary is not well paid, and make the system dysfunctional.”
NBA president warns judges against corruption, says ‘bad eggs will be called out’
Meanwhile, the new president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, on 16th October, said judges found to be corrupt will be called out and made to face the consequences.
Maikyau said this while speaking to journalists at a ceremony organised in his honour as the newly-elected president of the NBA, in Abuja.
“We have this general accusation that judges are corrupt. Of course, we do know that we have bad eggs. It’s just that we haven’t laid our hands on them in terms of the concrete proof with which we can pursue them, call them out, and get them to face the music,” he said.
“In spite of that, we are also very good, upright, forthright and honest judges. But what has pervaded the entire airway is the allegation or the narrative that judges are generally corrupt, which is not true.
“So, I’m saying that we must begin to do what we need to do to change the narrative. For those that we find to be corrupt, we will call them out. For members of the bar that we find to be complicit in any act of corruption, we’ll also call them out and cause the relevant rules to be applied in terms of the discipline of any person, and where crimes are committed, are also reported to the appropriate authorities, for them to be prosecuted.
“And that is the way in which the Nigerian Bar Association can actually change that narrative. If we find you to be corrupt amongst the judges, we call you out and excise you from the judiciary. If you’re a member of the bar, and you are participating in that corrupt practice, we’ll also deal with you.”
