A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Ejembi Eko, while lamenting the corruption in the Nigerian judiciary, has called on anti-graft agencies to probe the financial records of the judiciary. Justice Eko spoke during a valedictory session held in his honour in Abuja on Monday.
“Nothing stops the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the ICPC and other investigatory agencies from opening the books of the judiciary to expose the corruption in the management of their budgetary resources. That does not compromise the independence of the judiciary. Rather, it promotes accountability,” Justice Eko said in his valedictory address.
Justice Eko, who clocked the mandatory retirement age of 70, said chief registrars of courts surrender themselves “to be directed willy-nilly in the vandalization of the judiciary budget. My Lords, the heads of court in the federation have enormous budgetary resources from which they can improve the welfare of serving judges,” he said, adding that the opaque nature of administering the budget of the judiciary has contributed to the abject state of judges in the country.
“As it is, presently, and as the Director of Budget in the Federal Ministry of Finance disclosed recently at the memorial lecture in honour of the late Abdullahi Ibrahim, SAN, it is baffling that the welfare of judges remains in abject state in spite of the increase of the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary under this regime. Why?
“The said director of budget suggested that the panacea to the often touted underfunding of the judiciary would be for ‘the judiciary to allow its books to be opened’ by the relevant authorities,” said the retired jurist.
He also criticised the National Judicial Council (NJC), which he accused of applying double standards in disciplining erring judicial officers. According to him, while some judges found culpable of misconduct were barred from getting promotions, others that committed similar breaches, had their promotion stalled for some years.
“With all deference to the NJC; the punishment fell short of the expectation of the public that these bad eggs should have been broken or smashed and/or exterminated, to serve as deterrence. When the punishment for an outstandingly bad and outrageous conduct is far too lenient, it encourages impunity and/or repeat by others of errant or atrocious misconduct,” Justice Eko said.
Delivering his tribute, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said Justice Eko set himself apart through sound judgements. He echoed the retired justice’s call on the need for the judiciary to open its finances to public scrutiny.
He urged the judiciary to embrace the open government initiative of the federal government “by showing transparency in its budgetary matters.”
On his part, Justice Tanko Muhammad, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), praised Justice Eko for offering 45 years of his life in the service of Nigeria. He described Eko as “a personality whose name has become a recurring decimal in the annals of the Nigerian judiciary, ostensible for his robust scholarly disposition and astounding erudition”.
“By virtue of the lofty successes he (Eko) has achieved, his name has, as a matter of necessity, been etched in gold and now deservedly occupies an enviable place in the hall of fame of the Nigerian judiciary”, Justice Muhammad said.
