Kanu Agabi, a former attorney-general of the federation, says Nigeria’s judiciary is better than the legislature and the executive, saying it is the best arm of government in the country.
Mr Agabi stated this in Abuja on Saturday at the launch of a book titled “ Court and Politics” by Umar Ardo, the ex-special adviser on research and strategy to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“I wish to say that speaking for the judiciary, we have a good judiciary; our judges are competent. It doesn’t mean that every one of them is good; there may be one or two here and there who are failing,” said Mr Agabi.
The former AGF, who said no system was perfect, maintained that the judiciary was better than other arms of government, executive and legislature.
“Had it not been for the judiciary, this country would long have disintegrated, it is true. I’ve been a lawyer for 51 years. I work in the courts. I’m not an arbitrator. I don’t work for banks. I don’t sell land.
“I work in the courts, and when I tell you that the courts have saved this nation, please believe it,” he said.
Mr Agabi said Nigerian judges should not be blamed for the inconsistencies in judgments, saying that the laws should be blamed instead.
He said that justice was according to law, not at random.
“I give you a typical example in election matters. The grounds must be consistent. If the grounds are inconsistent with one another or inconsistent with the relief, such a petition will fail,” he said.
Mr Agabi said the reason the courts were congested was because people filed speculative and frivolous actions with the hope that they could manipulate the judges.
“Sometimes they tire the judges and succeed. More often than not, they fail.
“It is not because the judges are corrupt or because they’re incompetent. No, it’s the law. The law is set to be dynamic because of the lack of experience; we go on changing them,” Mr Agabi said.
Also speaking for the bench, a former judge of the High Court, Justice Ambrose Namdi, attributed some challenges in the judiciary to the politicians.
Mr Namdi said while the law was clear on which court should handle certain cases, some politicians still filed some cases that lacked merits in the court, leaving the judges to face the heat.
He said the judges were handicapped sometimes because the law was specific.
On his part, the former national chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus, speaking for the political class, said there was a need for total reform of the judiciary.
He recalled how the residence of a justice of the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt was raided by security personnel called for concerns.
He added that the inconsistent judgments in the 2023 general elections on cases with the same issue had far-reaching implementation in the judiciary.
“Our system here in the country, be it military, be it civilian, democracy, is based on sentiments, emotions injected into our law and politics.
“I believe that we have reached that stage for all to know that we have all failed and need to repent,“ he said.
(NAN)
