Disregard report on judicial corruption, NJC tells Nigerians

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has asked members of the public to disregard the recent report which listed judges and magistrates among the most corrupt public officials in the country.  The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had on August 17 claimed the judiciary and the […]

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has asked members of the public to disregard the recent report which listed judges and magistrates among the most corrupt public officials in the country. 

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) had on August 17 claimed the judiciary and the police were part of the receivers of about N400bn annually in bribes among federal agencies. 

In a statement signed by the Director of Information, Soji Oye over the weekend, NJC described the report as ‘subjective and speculative’, adding that it is “untrue, baseless, unfounded and a figment of the agencies’ imagination.” 

The NJC noted the judiciary is “the only arm   of government that has been investigating its Judicial Officers and dealt appropriately with those found guilty by dismissal or removal from office, subject   to   approval   for   such   recommendation   from   the president or the governor of a state as the case may be, and publish such in electronic and print media for the consumption of the public.” 

The council regretted that the damning report is coming at a time the Chief Justice of Nigeria is making efforts to “stamp out corruption, restructure the Judiciary and also give the Nigerian Legal System a new lease of life for the Rule of Law to take its firm roots in the country.”