Anti-graft War: Lagos Cleric, Nwosu, Urges NJC, To Sack Corrupt Judges

LAGOS-based cleric and Public Affairs Commentator, Rev. Dr. Felix Nwosu, has urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohamed, the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to sanitise the nation’s judiciary to ensure that the anti-corruption war of President Muhammadu Buhari is a success.
Nwosu, the General Overseer of Christ Foundation Sabbath Mission (CFSM), stated in an interview that if the CJN and the NJC fail to fish out corrupt judges in the system, they will continue to be a clog in the wheel of the administration’s crusade for corruption-free nation.
The cleric lamented that some judges are not bold enough to hade cases against corrupt politicians because their hands have been stained through bribery, hence they rely on what he termed “ legal technicalities and judicial rigmarole” to unduly delay cases in courts and grant frivolous bail applications.
He also maintained that even at the highest level of the judiciary, it is feared that some justices who have conjugal relationship with top politicians may have been using their positions to influence court decisions especially o political and corruption cases, counseling that such judicial officers should e eased out of the system as they no longer have the interest of the nation at heart.
Nwosu stressed: ”Judges operate in a temple. If they accept money and impede o justice, their courts cease to be temples, because they have been desecrated. If the judiciary is corruptible, then the nation is not safe as te governors and even the President can be impeached.
“It is even being suggested that some of the rulings of the elections tribunals, the Court of Appeal and even the Supreme Court are products of behind-the-scene activities between judicial officers and lawyers and are therefore questionable.
“Nigerian judges should show that they are men and women of integrity by passing judgments that will help to recover looted funds and deepen the nation’s democracy. If a man who was not rich declared several billions of naira on leaving office, it shows that he was corrupt while in office.”
He added: “Nigerian lawyers use legal technicalities to confuse judges thereby delaying cases. Justice delayed is justice denied. The CJN and the NJC should ensure that judges do not delay justice due to legal technicalities being dished out by smart lawyers to impede justice.
“There is the need for the CJN and the NJC to quickly embark on the lean-up of the system to do away with corrupt and lazy judges at the federal and state levels to save the judiciary and give teeth to the war against corruption.”
He urged the CJN to engage new judges and upgrade the existing ones with integrity to ensure that cases are quickly dispensed with, adding that judicial officers should be well paid and taken care of to ensure that they are not easily enticed by corrupt people who want to escape and pervert justice.
Nwosu also counseled the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to ensure that their members key into the anti-graft war of the present administration, even as they defend their clients, instead of assisting such politicians to bribe judges.
“If lawyers see clear cases of corruption and embezzlement, they should ensure that their clients return the looted funds to make the judicial process easier instead of allowing such corrupt people to use the looted funds to bribe judicial officers and buy their freedom thereby desecrating the temple of justice.