Abuja, Nigeria – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed deep concern over the state of Nigeria’s judiciary, describing it as “courts of corruption rather than courts of justice”.
In his new book, “Nigeria: Past and Future”, Obasanjo laments the steady decline of the judiciary’s integrity, attributing it to corruption among judges.
According to Obasanjo, “The reputation of the Nigerian judiciary has steadily gone down from the four eras up till today. The rapidity of the precipitous fall, particularly in the Fourth Republic, is lamentable.” He notes that justice has become commodified in Nigeria, with dire consequences for the nation’s stability.
“The great fear of most well-meaning Nigerians and good friends of Nigeria is that where ‘justice’ is only available to the highest bidder, despair, anarchy, and violence would substitute justice, order, and hope,” Obasanjo stated.
The former President shared a personal experience that illustrates the extent of judicial corruption. “I went to a state in the North about ten years after I left public office. Next to the government guest house was a line of six duplex buildings. The governor pointed to the buildings and stated that they belonged to a judge who put them up from the money he made from being the chairman of election tribunals,” he revealed.
Obasanjo also criticized the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, accusing him of undermining the electoral process since 2015.
“No wonder politicians do not put much confidence in an election which the INEC of Professor Mahmood Yakubu polluted and grossly undermined to make a charade,” he added.
Be the first to comment