Obasanjo has slammed the judiciary and accused INEC of undermining democracy in Nigeria.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised alarm over what he described as the deep rot within Nigeria’s judiciary, warning that the courts have become “courts of corruption rather than courts of justice.”
Obasanjo made the remarks in his newly released book, Nigeria: Past and Future, published by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. He lamented what he called the “steady decline of the judiciary’s integrity,” stressing that corruption among judges has eroded public trust in the justice system.
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“The reputation of the Nigerian judiciary has steadily gone down from the four eras up till today. The rapidity of the precipitous fall, particularly in the Fourth Republic, is lamentable,” Obasanjo wrote.
The former leader further accused judges of commercialising justice in Nigeria, warning of the grave consequences. “Where justice is only available to the highest bidder, despair, anarchy, and violence will replace justice, order, and hope,” he said.
Recalling a visit to a northern state years after leaving office, Obasanjo narrated how a governor showed him six duplexes allegedly owned by a judge who acquired them from proceeds of serving as chairman of election tribunals.
Turning his criticism to the electoral process, Obasanjo accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of weakening Nigeria’s democracy since taking charge in 2015.
“No wonder politicians do not put much confidence in an election which the INEC of Professor Mahmood Yakubu polluted and grossly undermined to make a charade,” he added.
