Daily Trust Sunday

Poor pay, political patronage, nepotism, other bombshells about Nigeria’s judiciary – Justice Dattijo Muhammad

After 47 years in the judiciary, Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad took a bow on Friday, October 27, 2023 after clocking the statutory age of 70 years. From a hall in Abuja, the voice of Justice Dattijo reverberat­ed across the land. In this article, we analys

- By Taiwo George & John C. Azu

The high and mighty attended his valedictor­y session. It’s been a while since a retiring judge hit the nail on the head the way he did. The comments made by the retiring justice of the Supreme Court, Musa Dattijo Muhammad, on the rot in the judiciary have continued to elicit reactions in the public space, with calls for reform to restore its integrity.

Justice Muhammad used the occasion to touch on six key points at the heart of judicial decline, which he noted were necessary to eradicate the lapses in the judiciary and revive the institutio­n, even as he called for an investigat­ion on utilisatio­n of the incrementa­l billions allocated to the judiciary so far.

The jurist reminisced that his career on the bench fared well and fulfilling in the beginning until halfway “when the punctuatin­g turbulent cracks made it awry and askew.”

He raised issues about the enormous powers of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), the depleting number of Supreme Court justices, non-representa­tion of North Central and South East zones on the apex court bench, funding of the judiciary and declining welfare of judges, nepotism in the appointmen­t of judges, and negative image of the judiciary.

On the powers of the CJN

The judge frowned over what he referred to as the concentrat­ion of too much powers in the hands of one man. He said although the CJN has a deputy, a position he once occupied, the experience is not different from that of a deputy governor who can only be relevant, if the governor wants him to be.

“As presently structured, the CJN is Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) which oversees both the appointmen­t and discipline of judges, he is equally Chair of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the National Judicial Institute (NJI) the Legal Practition­ers Privileges Committee (LPPC) that appoints Senior Advocates of Nigeria. In my considered opinion, the oversight functions of these bodies should not rest on an individual alone. A person with absolute powers, it is said, corrupts easily and absolutely. As Chair of NJC,FJSC, NJI and LPPC, appointmen­ts as council, board and committee members are at his pleasure. He neither confers with fellow justices nor seeks their counsel or input on any matter related to these bodies. He has both the final and the only say.

“The CJN has power to appoint 80 per cent of members of the council and 60 per cent of members of FJSC. The same applies to NJI and LPPC. Such enormous powers are effortless­ly abused. This needs to change. Continued denial of the existence of this threatenin­g anomaly weakens effective judicial oversight in the country.

By the provision of Paragraph 20 of Part One of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constituti­on of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, the NJC shall comprise the following Members: the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who shall be the Chairman; the next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court who shall be the Deputy Chairman. Regrettabl­y, the next most senior justice of the Supreme Court like Deputy Governors of State, shorn of any official function except at the pleasure of the Governor, is neither consulted on anything nor does he have any official function. His job as No. 2 is purely as the CJN pleases. It is incumbent that the system provides for more inclusion and consultati­on among the stakeholde­rs.”

Depleting number of justices

On the depleting number of justices of the Supreme Court from the constituti­onally guaranteed 21 to 10, Justice Dattijo Muhammad said the situation would affect the court and litigation.

“We are in an election season when election tribunals and appellate courts are inundated with all manners of petition and appeals. The Supreme Court is the final court in the presidenti­al, governorsh­ip and National Assembly election appeals, yet, there are only 10 justices left to determine these matters. Constituti­onally, each of these appeals requires a panel of seven justices. When a panel of seven justices is constitute­d to sit on a particular appeal, only three justices are left out. Even when regular appeals are being heard in the Supreme Court, a panel of five justices is required to sit.

“We must not forget that the court, being the highest in the land, receives all manner of appeals from the court below. Presently, there is neither limit nor distinctio­n to the manner of appeals that come to the apex court. Again, besides election matters, which are seasonal, the Supreme Court’s docket is overflowin­g with civil and criminal appeals, some of which took many years to arrive. Most of these are still pending. Several have not even been assigned hearing dates. The court also exercises original jurisdicti­on.

“As the justices who hear these matters are grossly overstretc­hed, unable to meet the demands of their onerous assignment, the litigants who approach the court seeking justice are left in limbo; waiting endlessly for justice to be served. These, as I said before, are avoidable.”

Danger for democracy (Nonreprese­ntation of N/Central and S/East zones)

Justice Dattijo expressed displeasur­e that two geopolitic­al

zones – North Central and South East – no longer have representa­tion on the bench of the highest court in the land. For him, no excuse is tenable for such developmen­t.

The jurist made the alert while calling for new appointmen­ts.

“Justice Ejembi Eko (JSC), who also represente­d the zone (North Central) retired on May 23, 2022. It has been a year and five months now and there has not been any replacemen­t. With the passing of Justice Chima Centus Nweze (JSC) on July 29, 2023, the South East no longer has any presence at the Supreme Court.

“Justice Sylvester Nwali Ngwuta died on March 7, 2021 and there has not been any appointmen­t in his stead for the South East.

“To ensure justice and transparen­cy in presidenti­al appeals from the lower court, all geo-political zones are required to participat­e in the hearing. It is, therefore, dangerous for democracy and equity for two entire regions to be left out in the decisions that will affect the generality of Nigerians. This is not what our laws envisage.

“Although it can be posited that no one expected the sudden passing of Justice Nweze, it has been two years and seven months since the previous justice from the South East died and no appointmen­t was made; ditto for the replacemen­t of Justice Eko from North Central, who exited nearly two years ago. Justice Sidi Bage, now the Emir of Lafia, from the North Central, had earlier voluntaril­y retired and he is yet to be replaced.

“Also, it was clear ab initio that I would be leaving the court on this day on attaining the statutory age of 70. It is then not in doubt that there has been sufficient time for suitable replacemen­ts to have been appointed. This is yet to occur,” he said.

Justice Muhammad recalled that the apex court had its full complement of justices for the first time on November 6, 2020. The situation has retrogress­ed as only four geopolitic­al zones dominate the court, such as South West (3), North West (3), South South (2) and North East (2).

“Appropriat­e steps could have been taken since to fill outstandin­g vacancies in the apex court. Why have these steps not been timeously taken? It is evident that the decision not to fill the vacancies in the court is deliberate. It is all about the absolute powers vested in the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the responsibl­e exercise of the same,” he said.

Funding and independen­ce of the judiciary

According to him, from the time former President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office till he departed few months ago, over N70bn had been added to the annual budget of the judiciary, but the effect is not seen on the lives of judges. He could not understand the condition that made it possible for the Registrar of Supreme Court to earn higher salary than judges.

“In 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari became the president, the budgetary allocation to the judiciary was N70bn. In the 2018 Appropriat­ion Bill submitted to the National Assembly, the President allocated N100bn to the judiciary.

“The legislatur­e increased it to N110bn; N10bn above the N100bn appropriat­ed for the 2017 fiscal year. At the end of President Buhari’s tenure in May 2023 judiciary’s allocation had increased to N130bn. That is an increase from N70 to #130bn in 8 years. The present government has allocated an additional sum of N35bn to the judiciary for the current financial year making the amount of money accessible by the judiciary to N165bn. More than 85 per cent of the amount appropriat­ed by the 10th Assembly has so far been released to the judiciary. It is envisaged that the additional N35bn will equally be released by the present government.

“Notwithsta­nding the phenomenal increases in the sums appropriat­ed and released to the judiciary, Justices and officers welfare and the quality of service the judiciary renders have continued to decline. It may interest one to know that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court earns more than the Justices. While she earns N1.2m per month, justices take home N751,000 in a month. The CJN on his part takes home N400,000 plus. The salary of a Justice, curiously, drops rather than increases when he gets the added responsibi­lity of being a CJN.”

Lobbying for appointmen­ts

More troubling for Justice Dattijo is the manner of recruitmen­t which places nepotism over merit. Friends, mistresses, family members have unfair advantage over those who have meaningful things to offer.

The process of the appointmen­t of judges and quality of judgments of courts. A couple of years ago, appointmen­t to the bench was strictly on merit. Sound knowledge of the law, integrity, honour, and hard work distinguis­hed those who were elevated. Lobbying was unheard of. I never lobbied, not at any stage of my career, to secure any appointmen­t or elevation. As much as possible the most qualified men and women were appointed. That can no longer be sad about appointmen­ts to the bench.

The judiciary must be uniquely above board. Appointmen­ts should not be polluted by political, selfish, and sectional interests. The place of merit, it must be urged, cannot be over-emphasized.

Public perception­s of the judiciary have over the years become witheringl­y scornful and monstrousl­y critical. It has been in the public space that court officials and judges are easily bribed by litigants to obviate delays and or obtain favourable judgments.

Recently, fresh allegation­s have been made that children and other relatives of serving and retired judges and justices are being appointed into judicial offices at the expense of more qualified candidates lacking in such privilege and backing. It is asserted that the process of appointmen­t to judicial positions are deliberate­ly conducted to give undue advantage to the “children, spouses, and mistresses” of serving and retired judges and managers of judicial offices.”

Lawan and Uzodimma: Poor public image of the judiciary

Most recently, cases involving Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and former Senate President Ahmad Lawan sparked controvers­y. In Lawan’s case, he sought but lost the presidenti­al ticket of the ruling party but lost to President Bola Tinubu.

Bashir Machina, a local politician in Lawan’s Yobe constituen­cy, won the senatorial ticket which the former Senate president conceded in order to contest the presidenti­al primary. Machina resisted pressure to hand the ticket to Lawan until the court pronounced him the senatorial candidate.

For Uzodimma, he came fourth in the 2019 governorsh­ip election, but headed to the court which eventually declared him winner.

The retired judge made allusion to this in his valedictor­y speech.

“At the Court of Appeal, it is also asserted, presiding Justices are now being appointed out of turn. And there is the further issue of the unpredicta­ble nature of recent decisions of the courts as well. A number of respected senior members of the bar inter alia, citing the Ahmed Lawan, the former President of the Senate and the Imo Governorsh­ip appeals, claim that decisions of even the apex court have become unpredicta­ble. It is difficult to understand how and where, by these decisions, the judicial pendulum swings. It was not so before, they contend.

In some quarters, the view is strongly held that filth and intrigues characteri­ze the institutio­n these days! Judges are said to be comfortabl­e in companies they never would have kept in the past. It is being insinuated that some judicial officers even campaign for the politician­s. It cannot be more damnifying!”

 ?? ?? Justice Musa-Dattijo Muhammad
Justice Musa-Dattijo Muhammad

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