Amina Augie, a retired Supreme Court justice, has warned lawyers and justices to shun corruption, claiming senior jurists had made a mockery of the bench by turning courtrooms into “market stalls” for selling judgement.
She gave the warning on Saturday at the 40th anniversary of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1986, popularly called the Centennial Class, where she delivered a keynote address on the theme “The Rule of Law and Justice Delivery — The Last 40 Years, Today and Tomorrow: Wither Nigeria?”
“The third, which I will not dress up, is corruption. Where it exists on the Bench, at the Bar, or in the Registry, it poisons everything by turning the one place that a citizen should find impartiality into one more market stall,” she said.
Ms Augie, 73, who retired in 2023, said she would not mince words in blaming the judiciary, from the higher-ups to the rank-and-file registry staff, for compromising the only tier of government that ought to bring succour and justice to the people.
She identified political interference and inadequate funding as the bane of Nigeria’s judicial system.
She said some high-ranking jurists had caused Nigerians to lose confidence in the judiciary, noting that public concerns over a compromised bench and bar were justified.
“Have we kept faith with them? In part, yes, in part, no. Public trust has paid the price. The public today is quick to believe the worst of lawyers, and sorry to say, not always without cause,” the retired justice said.
She said the misconduct of a few members of the profession had tainted the reputation of even those who remained upright.
“When a few senior members of the profession have been found to traffic in the corruption of justice, the damage is not to them alone; it stains the gown we all wear.”
She said the judiciary could only regain public confidence when Nigerians saw that no lawyer or judge, no matter how highly placed, was above the law.
“Restoring that trust is not a matter of better public relations. It is a matter of conduct and a profession willing to discipline its own, without fear or favor, no matter how senior the offender may be in the legal profession,” she said.
Ms Augie said lack of funding was another factor keeping jurists beholden to the executive arm of government.
She opined that a judiciary that depended on the government’s handouts for survival could not be totally independent of it, threatening the sanctity of the courts.
“A judiciary that must beg the executive for a courtroom roof, vehicles, or even the Judges’ entitlements is not fully free; financial autonomy for the courts is not a perk for justices and judges, but a guarantee for litigants,” Ms Augie said.