The approval by President Goodluck Jonathan for the retirement of Justice Gladys Olotu of the Federal High Court, Abuja and Justice U.A. Inyang of the Federal Capital Territory High Court recently is bound to cause ripples in some quarters. The president’s action is based on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar, who had on February 26, 2014 suspended them for alleged gross misconduct.
Inyang was recommended for dismissal after the NJC Fact Finding Committee established that he “included in his judgement, References to Garnishee Proceedings, which came after the judgement had been delivered on December 20, 2011”. The NJC added that Inyang “included the name of the counsel for the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Chief Chukwuma Ekomaru SAN, who came into the matter after the judgement of December 20, 2011 was delivered”. It said Inyang “recklessly signed a writ of execution, a day after delivering his judgment of December 20, 2011, the same day a notice of appeal and motion of notice for stay of execution was filed”.
On her part, Olotu allegedly “failed to deliver judgment on suite No FHC/UY/250/2003, 18 months after the final address by all the counsel in the said suit, contrary to the constitutional provisions that judgements should be delivered within a period of 90 days”.
The disciplinary action should not be restricted to these two justices. Indeed a thorough cleansing of the nation’s judiciary should be brought to bear on this all-important arm of government. There have been allegations of high-handedness, ineptitude, corruption and other unwholesome acts levelled against judges in recent times. Such cases should be properly investigated and due punishment meted out to the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others.
The court of law is the last hope of the common man. If the institution is polluted, it is the common man that will bear the brunt. Today, many innocent people are languishing in jails, not necessarily for crimes committed by them but because of the actions or inactions of the supposed custodians of justice who have failed to live up to expectation in the discharge of their duties.
To whom much is given, much is expected. The highest regards the judges are held will only be meaningful if they prove themselves to be above board.Some judges take pleasure in unnecessary adjournment of cases and allow such cases to drag on for as long as three to five years, knowing fully well that justice delayed is justice denied.
A cleansing of our courts and the judiciary will lay the foundation for a just society. Surely, if we hope to eliminate corruption in the land we must aspire to embrace an immaculate judiciary.The purity of the character of men and women who dispense justice should be of paramount concern to all of us.As we have always advocated, the independence of the judiciary should not be sacrificed. The necessary apparatuses needed for the proper discharge of duties should be made available to the judiciary at all times. Indeed, our judiciary should be duly funded.
The reverential role of the judges in democracy cannot be taken for granted. As we head for 2015, another important general election year in Nigeria, we call for a total support for the judiciary.We would also like to see the digitization of the judge’s functions. The use of computer and audio-video in courts may be considered as an alternative to or in addition to the use of longhand writing in order to quicken the process and delivery of justice.
