State Governors Have Politicize Judges Appointment In Nigeria -CJN
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen On Monday accused some state governors of interfering and politicizing the process of judge’s appointment in the country.
Justice Onnoghen, who spoke at the first Biennial Lecture of the Lagos State Judiciary, said some governors usually refuse to approve the names of persons nominated for the bench for NJC scrutiny if the names of his candidates are not included on that list.
The CJN, who was represented at the event by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour also expressed sadness over the falling standard at the Bar, noting that there cannot be a strong bench without a strong Bar, since judges are appointed from among lawyers.
Speaking on the theme, “Judicial Standards, integrity, respect and public perception: A comparative analysis from independence in 1960 to the present millennium”, he traced the erosion of judiciary independence to military intervention.
Justice Onnoghen admonished judges to refrain from commenting on matters of public interest through social media blogging sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, among others.
The CJN said judges must also ensure the removal of their personal information online, and as well desist from uploading pictures of their holiday and personal activities on social media.
He said judges “who are desirous of discussing public matters on the social media can only do so without revealing their identity,” adding that the interactive design of the internet blogging sites made it important for judges not to descend into such arena.
Justice Onnoghen also called for a review of the admission criteria for studying Law in the university, adding that the criteria for appointment as a judge should include a post – graduate degree in Law.
He further stated that lawyers who wanted to be appointed into the bench, in addition to 10 years post call requirement, should also be mandated to have post graduate diploma in law.
Also speaking at the event, Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo represented by Special Assistant to the President on Economic Crimes, Mr. Biodun Aikomo, said in view of the strategic role occupied by judicial officers in the country, it was important for them to always be above board and uphold ethical standards.
“Judges must be beyond reproach; they must be above board; they must abide by ethics and standards of the profession and dispense justice without rightly,” he said.
On his part, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode said the major reforms being implemented in both judiciary and security sectors in the state were targeted at creating a sound pedestal for residents to be productive and in turn boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the State.
Ambode also noted that the major reforms in the sectors were already contributing to the growth of the economy, assuring that no effort would be spared in ensuring the success of the various initiatives.
He stated, “I want to say that I am very proud of the judicial sector reforms going on in the State; we are very proud of the work being done by the Chief Judge and the combination of the efforts being carried out by the Attorney General and Chief Judge is something we need to support.
“It is now very obvious that some major reforms are going on in the judicial sector and we are very proud as the executive arm of government to support the judicial sector reforms which we are also complementing with our security sector reforms.
“In totality, the reforms are aimed at improving the economy of Lagos and grow the GDP and what is going on in the judicial sector is significant and we are very proud of it,” the Governor said.
While lauding the initiative of the lecture which was intended to engender thought provoking discussions and provide platform for stakeholders to assess performance of the judiciary and as well broaden the frontiers of justice delivery, Ambode called for the lecture to be held annually.
He said it was important for the intellectual conversation around the lecture to be held regularly in order to bring about practicable solutions to issues in the sector.
