Accomplish Magazine January 2024

FEATURE / ANALYSIS
IS THE NJC AN
INADVERTENT
UNDERTAKER?
By Dave Baro-Thomas
judicial misconduct and corruption are global phenomena that
portend grave danger for society and, no doubt, a national emergency.
The point when the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission, ICPC, declared the judiciary the most corrupt in terms of
the incredible amount of bribes taken by judges handling political and
electoral cases was the needed cue to “shut down” the entire system
and demand surgical reforms - because as Justice Samson Uwaifo,
a retired Justice of the Supreme Court puts it, a corrupt judge is more
harmful than a man who runs amok wielding a dagger in a crowded
street. While the man can be physically restrained, the corrupt judge
deliberately destroys the foundation of society.
•Abba Kabir Y
The appellate court’s judgement
in the matter between the sitting
Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir
Yusuf of the NNPP, and his rival,
Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC, is
making what looks like a cracked
judiciary, broken and derailed in the
eyes of Nigerians; the reason for this
being that some critical contents
of the certified true copy (CTC) of
the judgement is in dissonance
with the verdict given by the court
during judgement and this ugly
development is being lavishly
discussed in the public courts.
The Nigerian judiciary has never
come under such intense scrutiny or
disparagement by the public before
now. The people’s criticism rages like
a broken dam, and the consequences
could be far-reaching if the keepers
of the gate fold their hands and
watch helplessly.
What could embolden the politicians
and the Nigerian public to poke their
fingers in the eyes of the judiciary,
the current attorney general of
the federation wonders, or may
be pretending about it? It was this
same APC government, under the
penultimate President, General
Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, that opened
the floodgate for the near desecration
of the judiciary when the then Chief
Justice of the Federation, CJN, Justice
•Justice
Olukayode
Ariwoola
•Justice Samso
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