Following a contentious ruling handed down by a judge who was just elevated to the Appeal Court, political commentator Ezeocha Nzeh harshly criticised the Kano court in a recent interview with AIT. A decision that has generated considerable debate and worry is the high-profile case of reinstalling Ado Bayero as emir while deposing Sanusi Lamido.
According to Nzeh, the ruling’s timing and substance have given the impression that judgements may be bought and sold in the Nigerian court system. He stressed how this view undermines faith in government and the rule of law.
While reiterating the importance of a separate judiciary, Nzeh emphasised that the courts must resist political and other pressures to compromise their commitment to justice and the rule of law. If the judiciary is perceived as corrupted, he said, the entire legal system of Nigeria will be undermined.
He claimed that this move has aided in perpetuating the negative view of the court system as a marketplace for judicial rulings. Restoring public faith in the judiciary should be a top priority, he said, stressing that justice should never be considered a commodity.
The judiciary is back in action in Kano, he says. A justice or judge who has been elevated to the appeals court waited behind to hand down a ruling before departing. Nigerian courts are being portrayed by the judiciary as being similar to marketplaces. Judgements are the goods sold in Nigerian courts, which are essentially marketplaces.…….See More