New Telegraph

Nigeria at 61: Lawyers hail Judiciary’s performance

As Nigeria marks her 61st independence anniversary, a cross-section of senior lawyers have expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Judiciary as an arm of government.

 

The lawyers believed that despite the humongous challenges confronting the nation at the moment, Judiciary has excelled where other arms of government have failed. In his comments, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe, said the nation’s Judiciary has been good over the years.

 

He said: “As for the performance of the Judiciary, the jury is still out. We have had some truly atrocious decisions, like the one relied upon by General Babangida to annul the June 12, 1993 election.

 

We had the 12 2/3rd of 19 States delivered in 1979. On the other hand, the judiciary had saved the nation from the epidemic of impeachment of governors by infected state legislators.

 

“Apart from political cases, the day to day relationships of citizens have been positively attended to by the court. I do recall that over the years, Nigerian judges had performed creditably in foreign assignments.

 

So, all things considered, I think the Judiciary has been good as an arm of government”. Another senior lawyer, Dr. Fassy Yusuf, also hailed the judiciary saying it has remained a beacon of hope and inspiration for Nigerians.

 

“The judiciary to my mind has performed creditably in the last 61 years. Don’t forget that the judiciary has outlived all the administrations in this country. I am talking about both the military and civilian administrations.

 

Judiciary is the only arm of government that is constant that we all run to. The Executive and the Legislative arm of government are even not excluded. “I also want to say that no society get a judiciary that it does not want. Essentially, every nation gets the type of judiciary it deserve. So, I believe we are getting what we deserved and I can only hope that we improve on what we are having by putting in all neccesary efforts to advance. I am saying this because we have the potential to advance. “So, I wish the judiciary a robust health, futuristic management and speedy justice administration so that our expectations will be met and the judiciary will continue to be a beacon of hope and inspiration to all Nigerians. I hope that the performance of the judiciary will make all Nigerians to believe in the judicial system”, he said. A rights activist, Mr. Kabir Akingbolu, was also elated by Judiciary’s performance in the last 61 years. He noted that Judiciary remains the best among the other arms of government.

 

He said: “Today, a lot of people believed that the Judiciary has not done much in nation building but I know for sure that despite all that the Judiciary is experiencing, it is still the best of the three arms of government.

 

In fact, if the executive has not deliberately stifled the effectiveness of the Judiciary by meddling in its autonomy, the arm would have done better. However, so far, so wonderful. Meanwhile, I don’t think there is even anything to celebrate as a mark of Independence. Nigerians are suffering”.

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