Manny Ita –
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Afam Osigwe (SAN), has issued a stern warning regarding the declining integrity of the nation’s judiciary, characterizing the current state of judicial corruption as a “democratic emergency” that threatens the stability of the federation. Addressing a high-level legal forum in Abuja today, the NBA leader delivered a scathing assessment of the bench, asserting that the public’s confidence in the legal system has eroded to a dangerous low. Osigwe cautioned that the judiciary is increasingly perceived not as an impartial arbiter of justice, but as a marketplace where outcomes are predetermined by financial influence. “The unfortunate reality is that a growing number of Nigerians now view our courts as places where justice can be bought by the highest bidder,” Osigwe stated during his keynote address, noting that this perception is devastating the moral authority of the legal profession.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria argued that the root cause of this systemic decay lies in the flawed mechanism for selecting judicial officers, which he claimed has been compromised by political patronage and nepotism. He called for an immediate and total overhaul of the judicial appointment process to ensure that only individuals of proven character and intellectual rigor ascend to the bench. Osigwe warned that if the current trajectory continues, the rule of law will be permanently subverted, becoming a tool for the powerful to escape accountability. “We cannot afford to let the rule of law become an instrument for shielding the corrupt,” he remarked, emphasizing that the survival of Nigeria’s democracy is inextricably linked to the independence and purity of its courts.
Beyond the call for structural changes, the NBA President urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to be more proactive and transparent in disciplining erring judges who bring the temple of justice into disrepute. He noted that the era of “slap-on-the-wrist” administrative sanctions must end in favor of criminal prosecution for judicial officers found guilty of soliciting or receiving bribes. The legal forum, which was attended by senior jurists and human rights advocates, ended with a resolution to form a monitoring committee tasked with tracking suspicious delays in high-profile corruption cases. “The legal profession is at a crossroads,” Osigwe concluded, “and we must choose between a system of integrity or a descent into judicial anarchy.”
