By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
A legal luminary and former Chief Rapporteur of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Ikeazor Akaraiwe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has said that poor remuneration of judges and judicial officials in general is responsible for the decay in the judiciary.
Akaraiwe who spoke on CHANNELS TELEVISION breakfast programme Sunrise Daily monitored in Abuja on Tuesday insists that poor remuneration of judges open them to corruption as money-bags will penetrate them through their spouses, children and relatives.
According to him justice is so important to the society especially in a developing country like Nigeria that the nation must invest in it by paying judicial officials handsomely, adding that poorly paid judges are prone to financial inducement.
Said he: “justice is so important that we must invest in it by paying judicial officials handsomely. It is an open secret that poor remuneration of judges open them up to corruption as money-bags will penetrate them through their spouses, children and relations”.
Speaking further on Judicial Reforms and Task Before the newly appointed Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Chief Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Akaraiwe advised the new Chief Law Officer to quickly embark on far-reaching judicial reforms.
The former 1st Vice-President; Chairman, Human Rights Institute, Nigerian Bar Association (2008-2010) and Alternate Chair, Section on Public Interest and Development Law (SPIDEL) said the long delays in dispensation of justice is responsible for the people to take laws into their own hands.
“Clearly, the delays in dispensation of justice brings about the breakdown of law and order. Justice delayed breeds chaos in the society because a landlord who knows his tenants have money to drag him to court and ready to pursue the matter from the Magistrate Courts to the Supreme Court may resort to self help by removing the roof of the building to force his tenants out of the building. This is what happens in a society where justice is hard to be obtained”, Akaraiwe stated.
He therefore advocated for the speedy dispensation of justice, pointing out that it will ensure peace in the society because citizens will rather go to court to seek justice than resort to self help.
The legal luminary also criticised the appointments of judges on man-know-man basis, insisting that this state of affairs will not produce the best hands at the head of the country’s judiciary even as he argued that it will not guarantee justice to the citizens.
He also decried the delay in the appointment of judges after the retirement ir death of judicial officers, saying that there are many vacant positions in the Appeal and Supreme Courts to be filled. READ ALSO:
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This is even as Akaraiwe is advocating for having Supreme Court in the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria, saying that Constitutional and Electoral matters should go to Federal Supreme Court while land cases should be handled at the zonal levels.
He also advocated for the removal of the appointment of state Chief Judges from the governors, arguing that state governors have pocketed the state judicial officials hence the need for the new AGF to ensure that this is stopped forthwith to free state Chief Judges from the iron grips of corrupt politicians.
Akaraiwe however urged the new AGF to ensure that the federal government upholds the Rule of Law, saying that it is the elephant in the room as past regimes except the government of President Goodluck Jonathan did not follow the Rule of Law.
