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EL-RUFAI CARPETS NIGERIAN JUDICIARY, SAYS MANY JUDGES, LAWYERS CORRUPT
A former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has alleged widespread corruption in the Nigerian judiciary, saying many judges and lawyers are corrupt.
Speaking on Monday at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari Branch in Abuja, Mr El-Rufai said the public no longer trusts the judiciary due to delayed justice and biased rulings.
The former governor claimed that justice in Nigeria often favours the rich and powerful.
Mr El-Rufai also criticised the use of ex parte orders in political matters and accused some lawyers of using the courts for political gains.
He called on legal professionals to reflect on their roles and ensure justice is truly served without bias or influence from the executive arm of government.
“In parallel, our judiciary—meant to be the bedrock of fairness and order—is under intense scrutiny. 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” he said.
