CJ To Legal Practitioners: Shun Financial Inducement
The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, has stressed the need for members of the legal profession to always be above board as ministers in the temple of justice, particularly when it comes to the issue of financial inducements.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent indictment of some judges and lawyers by the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged corruption cases bordering on inducements by litigants, Daramola said although cases of persecution against members of the bench and bar must have been suspected, the scenario was a very dangerous to the fight against pilfering of public funds.
The Chief Judge spoke in Ado Ekiti, on Monday while delivering a lecture entitled: ‘Corruption: Origin, Effect and Mechanism for Curtailment’ at an event organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ado Ekiti Branch to mark the commencement of the 2017 Law Week.
According to Daramola, “In the last one year, the legal profession has been the butt of ridicule and jokes due mainly to exposure of the involvement of judges and lawyers in corruption cases that were primarily geared to obstruct and pervert justice.
“Lawyers like Mafia Bookies and shacks, have become bagmen who now ferry bribes to judges. It is almost an impossibility for litigants to bribe judges without the active involvement of lawyers.
“The bar and bench have become the focus of state agencies empowered by law to wage war against corruption. There have been insinuations in certain quarters on either ground or misguided belief that the executive is deliberately waging war against the judiciary.
“I rather don’t believe that is the issue. As much as I believe there is no perfect institution in the world, for credibility sake, the judges, like Caesar’s wife, must nevertheless be above board.
“It is high time we judicial officers understand that we cannot compete with politicians in wrongdoings, because that may put us on the path of no return, unlike some politicians who commit similar offence and are sent to jail only to come back to be elected or appointed.
“It is the corrupt activities of some few individuals among us that have put a stigma on the whole judiciary. It will take many years for us to clear the mess. Most certainly, Nigeria’s judicial system needs a thorough reappraisal. It is after this that all of us can look ourselves in the face and smile and also feel proud of the profession again”, he said.
The Branch Chairman, Barrister Gbenga Adaramola, refuted the widespread impression that lawyers were not committed to fighting graft, saying that the NBA national body recently disrobed 37 lawyers for corrupt practices.
The NBA leader defended the National Judicial Council (NJC) for recalling the suspended judges, saying “they did that because the federal government was slow in its prosecution and justice delayed is justice denied. They can’t be suspended perpetually when there is no diligent prosecution”, he noted.
