Chidi Odinkalu, the former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has stated that the country’s judiciary can no longer be considered as the common man’s hope.
According to the Nigerian human rights activist, the rot in the Nigerian court began years ago and has already reached the country’s Supreme Court, which is cause for severe concern.
Odinkalu emphasised that corruption in the judiciary is quite serious, citing a recent remark by retired Supreme Court Justice Dattijo Muhammad.
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He wrote: “If corruption has got up to the Supreme Court, you have to acknowledge that if you have a Judiciary in which Judges of the Supreme Court are saying that the Supreme Court itself is a problem, then you have a credible problem. It can no longer be described as the last hope of the common man. We have to address it.
“What the retired Supreme Court Judge Dattijo Muhammad said reflects a trend that was fully documented, and the timeline reflected the history of remarks by retiring Justices of the Supreme Court over the last twenty years.”
Odinalu, therefore, stated that some good men and women can serve on the bench today and are not confined to the sons, daughters and mistresses of Judges and politicians.
He said: “There are good men and good women; these good men and women are not confined to the sons, daughters and mistresses of Judges and politicians. That is the problem. Look around today. The sixteen Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Kogi State are asking that appointments to the bench be suspended because the Governor, they allege, wants to make his wife a High Court Judge.
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Every top politician desires that the person in their bedroom and a family member be appointed to the High Court. How do you govern such a country? Honest people are never even given an opportunity to be considered.
People who are decent, successful, and bright no longer have a chance to be considered; if their political class does not make the selections, that is the problem.”
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