Former governor state of Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai, has said Nigeria stinks of widespread corruption.
El-Rufai stated this at the vent Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari branch held in Abuja on Monday.
He said the public no longer trusts the judiciary due to “delayed justice and biased rulings”.
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The former governor also criticised the use of ex parte orders in political matters.
He accused some lawyers of using the courts for political gains.
El-Rufai said, “In parallel, our judiciary, meant to be the bedrock of fairness and order, is under intense scrutiny.
Citing inconsistent judgments, opaque judicial appointments, and minimal consequences for erring judges as key factors contributing to the judiciary’s loss of integrity, he criticised the National Judicial Council (NJC) for “failing in its core mandate of disciplinary oversight”.
“Concerns about delayed justice, procedural inefficiencies, and in some cases, judicial compromise (to put the matter delicately), erode public confidence.
“The rise in forum shopping, the weaponisation of ex parte orders in political matters, and the growing perception that justice is for sale and available only to the rich and the powerful would cause the perceptive observer to conclude that what Nigerian courts do is the administration of law and not the administration of justice.
“In Nigeria, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between law and justice. Not only is justice wanting, but the law that is administered seems to be according to the wishes of the executive.
“The demand on you, as practitioners in the temple of justice, is a sober introspection as you contemplate whether indeed Justitia is blind and whether she holds the scales of justice in fine balance.”
“If we must be honest, we must admit that the perception of a high level of judicial corruption is now mainstream.”
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