JUDICIARY CORRUPTION GETTING OUT OF HAND
On Monday, 17th November 2025, President Bola Tinubu while declaring open the All Nigeria's Judges conference at the National Judicial Institute (NJI) Abuja said that there's a perception of the judiciary as corrupt and justice is for sale.
The question is, does that give the attendant perception that the president's ruling party benefits more from corruption in judiciary?
I think politicians seem to have the judiciary for sale in Nigeria because politicians compromise judges and election winners are determined by judges and not by votes cast by electorate. As we write this the common man has lost hope in the judiciary as his last hope.
Nigerian judiciary can't be free from interference of the Executive arm of government even if they pay each judicial official one billion naira per month.
The chief judges of states are being appointed by politicians and chief justice of Nigeria is being appointed by politicians as well so why do you expect a free judiciary in Nigeria?
Another biting issues are tribalism and nepotism. It will be difficult for a judge to give a fair hearing. If you have any case with a retired judge or a serving judge in the court you will never get justice except very few upright judges that will deliver judgement against their serving colleagues or former colleagues.
I have a personal experience with my case still pending in the supreme Court with a retired judge. It happens both parties, myself and other party are first cousins.
In spite of overwhelming evidences I gave none of my evidences were considered by the 'sitting presiding female judge,' confirming the saying 'judge help judge'. How do you expect free judiciary in Nigeria?
Even when you ask some judges to discontinue with your case they still force themselves on such cases. I have another experience when my wife asked a judge to discontinue with a case, yet the woman judge still went ahead to deliver judgment against my wife without her oral defence on oath and cross-examination on oath?
The Nigerian judiciary needs complete overhauling where judges and magistrates should contest publicly and be elected by the people as it is done in many states in America with a single term of two or three years and judidicial disciplinary Committees made of credible people and not lawyers or retired judges/serving judges to watch over judges and their activities with power to dismiss them and put them on probation depending on the offence.
The rot in Nigeria judiciary can't be wished a way. A law should be made to forbid judges and magistrates not to accept car gifts, houses, cash from government and members of the public.
Cases before judges and magistrates should not last more than two weeks in any high court or magistrate court even if those judges are transferred, the cases should start from where they stop.
Lingering of court cases in high courts and magistrate courts gives room for corruption.
More court rooms should be built in all local government areas and more judges and magistrates should be appointed. They should appoint duty judges and magistrates to hear cases in the nights, weekends, festival days as it is done in the UK.
There are duty judges in the UK to hear cases at any hour of the day/night and even Christmas day, New year day or Bank holidays. There should be adequate budget for judiciary for their judicial officers and workers at all levels, salaries, allowances, cars, housing allowances, health care,and upkeep of their offices, transport for serving of court writs and execution of court orders without taking a dime or gift from executive arm of gov't, people and litigants.
Judicial officials and workers should rely on honest incomes.
And every erring judicial official and worker should face consequences of action by Judicial disciplinary Committees backed by the law comprising of credible people who are not lawyers, retired judges and serving judges who should also be elected by the public for a tenure of 3 years to monitor and check activities of erring judges.
Agreed we have upright judges in Nigeria but they are very few. This reminds me of Frank Caprio of Providence City in Rhode Island, US was rated as the nicest judge in the world and passed on at the age of 88 on 20th August 2025 and retired at 87 on January 2023.
He was loved by the people all over the world and he authorised video taping of all his court proceedings. Nigeria judiciary is sick and needs urgent cure that will rid off corruption and not wishful thinking.
The said judgment execution against me was done on my absence when myself and wife were on transit in Lagos. The retired judge came with court bailiffs to execute a wrong order by pounding two vehicles from my premises in Iwhrekan Town in Ughelli South LG even when they were told the cars they took belonged to my wife and daughter and they even showed them the car documents which they said they were on court execution order.
So the impunity by some judges and magistrates is worrisome. To the extent of going outside court judgments to execute a supposed order of court. The rot in the judiciary is much.
Most practicing lawyers are scared to criticise erring judges and magistrates so that they will not be in their bad books. All of this are evidence of a corrupt judiciary.
Why should practicing lawyers be in good book of judges and magistrates? It means judgements of judges and magistrates are sentimental and not based on point of law.
Zik Gbemre
November 20,2025
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
