Kogi State Chief Judge, Nasiru Ajanah has decried corruption in the judiciary, saying that bad eggs had contaminated the whole judicial system, overwhelmingly.
Nairu said this while delivering a lecture titled, “Maintaining A Strong Judiciary: Corruption as an Albatross” at the 8th Justice J. Adesiyun Biennial Memorial Public Lecture.
According to him, the growing menace portends danger for the country.
“When the judiciary is corrupt, it facilitates corruption in other sectors of government and it transmits to the public that corruption is accepted,” he said.
He stated that corruption could undermine the integrity and credibility of the entire legal system, adding that court-related corruption was a significant source of institutional or systemic malfunction.
“A corrupt judiciary is prone to political manipulation and could be weak in terms of the protection of the fundamental human rights of ordinary citizens, especially the protection of rights that are of a civil and political character.
“This is because the enforcement of these rights is often directed against the state, particularly the political branches of government,” he said.
On what causes corruption, Nasiru pinpointed lack of transparency, lack of judicial knowledge and poor supervision of courts’ staff.
The judge acknowledged the National Judicial Council (NJC)’s efforts at ridding the judiciary of bad eggs and also advocated fundamental reform of the judiciary to save it from the corruptive image it is being painted.
“Until the judiciary of Nigeria is able to purge itself of bad eggs; until a fundamental reform is effected, and there is a total overhaul of the system, the judiciary of Nigeria may continue to carry the burden of corruption as an albatross,” he stated.
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