The president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Okey Wali, on Wednesday, said that corrupt judges are worse than insurgents members in the country.
Wali made the assertion in Abuja during the valedictory court session held in honour of Justice Christopher Chukwuma-Eneh, who bowed out of the Supreme Court at the mandatory retirement age of 70.
He admitted that there are bad eggs on the Bench, and pointed out that the judiciary is facing huge problems.
“The bad eggs on the Bench are so bad that they have exhibited the potential of destroying the judiciary and, by extension, this nation” Wali said. “They are worse than the mob, they are doing more harm to this nation, even than the worst terrorist group in the world, Boko Haram. As 2015 approaches, they are getting more daring. The sad thing is that the public perception is worse than this, because to the public, it is the judiciary that is letting Nigerians down”.
Wali urged the Federal Government to transform the nation’s judiciary which would in turn, inspire confidence in persons or organisations that want to invest in the country instead of travelling the world looking for foreign investor.
The NBA president stated that the earlier the Federal Government realised that the judiciary was imperative to the well-being of the country, the better for everybody.
“This is no ego tripping, law and order and the economy of this country revolve around the judiciary” he said.
According to him, if the federal government should fund the judiciary properly, it would enhance foreign investors confidence that the country is stable.
Commenting on the removal of corrupt officials, Wali, who applauded the moves by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, to rid the judiciary of corruption, assured that the NBA was strongly behind her.
He revealed that in the last 12 months, 11 legal practitioners had been disbarred, with two suspended for five years for professional misconduct.
The NBA boss said that over 47 were being tried by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) of the NBA and over 126 being investigated by the association.
He, however, reiterated the association’s call for amnesty for Boko Haram members, and urged them to stop killing innocent citizens.
his numerous judgments.
If you wish to know how this story develops, use
Know more about this news? Update the info!