Rift In The Judiciary

The recent disagreement between the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alloysius Katsina-Alu and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, speaks volumes about the rot in the judiciary and the legal profession as a whole. It has been assumed for a long time that the law profession is a noble profession and the practitioners are learned gentlemen. The bench and the bar are to uphold the highest ethical standard in the society and comport themselves in the noblest way possible. But the recent happenings have sullied both the bar and the bench by the way the whole episode erupted in the open and filing of damaging suit at the court.

The question may be asked if the essence of the whole drama is to uplift the legal profession, enhance the quality of justice or ridicule the judiciary before the public. This drama has clearly shown that something is wrong with the judiciary and the legal profession as a whole and there should be an immediate equitable remedy to bring the matter to an end.

We might agree with the Honourable Chief Judge of the Court of Appeal that there is more than eye can see in the whole promotion saga. How can someone be promoted without consultation and against his wish? How can somebody in charge of a whole division with so many judges under him be made anonymous under the guise of promotion or is it punishment? The Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria really has an explanation to make to the public especially when it seems he is sole originator and executor of the promotion saga.

The reaction and attitude of the Honourable Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal and the  senior lawyers involved in the litigation saga is worrisome. With that kind of damaging allegation involving two big wigs of the bench and the perceived image of the judiciary in the eye of the public, it is expected that sanity should have prevailed.

While there is nothing absolutely wrong in instituting a case in a court to redress a perceived wrong, it is believed that efforts should have been made by the parties, especially the senior lawyers involved, to seek an alternative dispute resolution method and probably involve the high echelon of the Nigerian Bar Association. This is not necessarily sweeping the dirt under the carpet but protecting the image of the judiciary as the last bastion of the common man. Although the matter has been withdrawn from the court, it would have been very interesting to watch the proceedings in the Federal High Court and likely appeal to the Court of Appeal and final appeal to the Supreme Court. The whole judiciary would have been exposed to ridicule it might never recover from.

Many lawyers are of reasonable suspicion that something is wrong with the whole legal profession and the present drama has been an eye opener. There is the need to question the quality of justice coming out of our various courts. There is need to ask if the operators of the judiciary, our Lord Justices are really committed to the rule of law, justice, equity and good conscience. Do they carry themselves with the noblest carriage expected of them? Are they really interested in the common man getting justice or in their various offices and pockets?

The administration of justice is too slow and expensive in the country. Cases take ages before being decided at the lower courts, the appeal courts are not better off. By the time you get justice it becomes a hollow justice. The courts are congested with cases. Many citizens are languishing in various prisons awaiting trials for miscellaneous offences that might have seen them completing the terms of imprisonment if sentenced. Some are innocent but unlawfully remanded. All these should be the preoccupation of our Lord Justices.

We sincerely hope sanity will prevail at the end of the day and everybody must have learnt the bitter lesson from this episode. The Nigeria Bar Association must play a central role in this drama and can not afford to be passive. The whole world is watching now that the worms have been let out of the can.

•Fola Lawal is a Legal Practitioner