Aloma Mukhtar’s shot at state governors

Mukhtar came to office months back as the first female to become the nation’s Chief Justice. Much is expected. What with a reputation of integrity and a no-nonsense judge that trailed her like children trail a woman with the candies? Then she promised to turn the judiciary around, for the better. Well, she has been […]

Mukhtar came to office months back as the first female to become the nation’s Chief Justice. Much is expected. What with a reputation of integrity and a no-nonsense judge that trailed her like children trail a woman with the candies? Then she promised to turn the judiciary around, for the better. Well, she has been a part of the system from the late 1960s, so she knows what the issues are, and the challenges too. One would think military regimes, much of which administrations she had witnessed, would be significantly different in the manner they treated the judiciary in comparison to the civilians that are now on sit. But the Chief Justice from her advantaged position has taken a look at the system and discovers that civilian governors are no different from military governors, and that they are devising more disingenuous means of caging the judiciary. Now she is firing her first shot: “It is regrettable that some state executives treat the judiciary as an appendage of the executive arm. By section 121(3) of the constitution, any amount standing to the credit of the judiciary in the consolidated Revenue Fund of the state shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned. However, a significant part of the funding requirements of state judiciaries especially in the area of the provision of infrastructure and welfare of magistrates and other lower court, remain the responsibilities of states. This worrisome situation leaves judges at the mercy of state executives and politicians.” That was what Mukhtar said in her speech at the special session marking the beginning of the legal year and swearing-in of new Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.

On that occasion, the Chief Justice went on to restate her resolve to reposition the judiciary, and ensure it remains the “bastion of what is good and descent and Godly about humanity.”  What is good and descent and Godly about humanity. Well said, Your Lordship. The reasons are as follows. Her Lordship mentioned what is Godly.  Now a Judge sits in the position of God, he is a representative of God. The judge however takes bribe. He is accused of taking bribe, so he gives what is right to the guilty and gives what is wrong to the guiltless. This must amount to the end of humanity. It is the end of humanity. A nation where this happens is finished. It is a carcass. It’s just that it is yet to be buried. Under that scenario, the mass of the people that think the judiciary is where they can get redress return home with their heads bowed, their morale damaged, their humanity stripped. Can anyone offer a more logical reason as to why many in this society manifest depravity in their actions? A society where the masses say some retired judges have become consultants, serving as conduit for passing fund to corrupt officials on the bench. It means the system has collapsed. For a judge who collects bribe and turns justice on its head desecrates not only his office, but the land itself.

Now that Mukhtar expresses her view on the matter the way she has done, it means she fully understands the implication of a judiciary that has become ‘cash and carry.’ And it may be an indication that Nigeria is in for a better time. For Mukhtar does not see what is wrong with the judiciary from the perspective of external forces only, she sees a part of the fault as coming from the operators themselves. Yet the problem cannot be totally taken away from external forces that do all they can to pocket the judiciary. They will pocket anything, the politicians, including the entire content of Central Bank of Nigeria’s vault even if all its cash is in fire naira note denomination, except that the CBN has made it easier for them with the planned introduction of single five thousand naira note. So the judiciary is just an extension of everything the state governors will want to pocket. But all of this calls attention to more major issues.  For instance, the illegality that governors commit in other aspects of the nation’s life must necessarily have their effects on the judiciary. State governors take from the treasury illegally, they divert fund to personal accounts, they divert fund allocation in a lawful budget to other purposes, they ensure local council chairmen that should be elected are their Yes-men, and allocations that should be utilized to the benefit of the people remain under their fingers. The totality of all this, its effect on the nation is incalculable. It is a major fault in the foundation of the problems that confront the nation, while, unfortunately, those who see it and should confront it choose to look the other way. Naturally, and by extension, those who perpetrate illegality will do all they can to ensure their illegality is not overturned by the judiciary, and this by playing tricks such as the Chief Justice has pointed out. One lie leads to another. Politicians here mostly live lies, and as such they are less than likely to let the judiciary be.

This leads to the issue of more fundamental repositioning the judiciary under Mukhtar needs to do. Her Lordship should not only concentrate on making the governors release the fund that the judiciary needs. That’s a fraction of the work. She needs to encourage judicial activism, make the judiciary exercise its authority over politicians as the constitution has allotted it. She should see to it that judges treat each case that may come before them, for instance, over abuse of office that include selecting council chairmen rather than electing them, with all the honesty and judicial sagacity that such requires. She should ensure that her judges are on the side of the law always, on the side of the constitution, on the side of the people, and never fail to promptly declare all illegal actions and steps taken by of politicians to be exactly what it is. And judges that are found wanting should be made to go through the rigorous process that lead to sanctions. For in the event, she would only be doing her job, just as any member of the other branches of government claim they are doing theirs, even when all they are busy doing is an exercise in illegality.

Ajibade writes in from Abuja.  [email protected]