Kekere-Ekun, judiciary and the rule of law

It is an open secret that our judiciary is suffering from a massive confidence deficit from litigants on account of delayed justice, alleged corruption, nepotism in the appointment of judicial officers, conflicting court orders as well as impunity and disdain for the rule of law by some enforcers of the law as Justice Kudirat Kekere- Ekun assumed duty after her swearing-in as the 23rd Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN by President Bola Tinubu and the second such female appointee as head of the Supreme Court.

We believe strongly that the learned Justice, having risen to the pinnacle of her career by dint of hard work and merit beginning from being a magistrate, is better placed to evolve practical solutions to most of the challenges hindering the quick dispensation of justice to all, without fear or favour, upholding the judiciary’s independence, sanctity and its role as the last hope of the common man in order to sustain citizens’ confidence in democracy which is fast waning due to several factors.

Coming barely two weeks after Tinubu assented to a bill seeking to increase the salaries, allowances and benefits of Nigerian judicial officers by 300 per cent with the CJN now to earn N64 million annually while the President of the Court of Appeal and justices of the Supreme Court getting N62.4 million and N61.4 million respectively yearly as part of Federal Government efforts to prioritize the welfare of judiciary officers, should serve as morale booster for her to implement far-reaching transformational and radical reforms, especially in respect of the fundamental objective of case management driving how the courts work to accelerate the wheel of justice.

It is worthy of note that some senior lawyers in the Bar familiar with the several lapses in the nation’s judicial system, among them a former national president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, SAN and Jubrin Oguntepe (SAN), have charted a way forward for the judiciary with the former advocating continuation of radical reforms embarked upon by ex-CJN, Late Dahiru Musdapher who spent only six months in office.

Musdapher, according to him, set up a high-powered 29-member  committee that produced a transformational report, led a team to the then President of the Senate, David Mark, to present far-reaching reforms to the constitutional structure of the Judiciary but regrettably “as soon as the CJN turned his back, everyone forgot about it” adding that the potential legacy of the new CJN is “transformational and radical reform with the fundamental objective of case management driving how the courts work.”

On his part, Oguntepe maintained that discipline in the judiciary had become a matter of necessity, lamenting that “when a judicial officer is bringing ridicule, public disgrace, public disrepute by the kind of reckless orders being ditched out, stopping political gathering and issuing injunctions that are reckless without regard to set guidelines, such a judicial officer is not fit to occupy the office. It is not an office for Casanova; it is not an office for a man who does not have capacity to resist temptation. It must be an officer that can say no to those who appointed you.”

Also speaking truth to the apex, the SAN noted that the greatest area of law that has given the judiciary a disrepute is political engagement and unfortunately Kekere- Ekun is coming at a time when the Supreme Court has taken us back to the era of technicalities, stressing that “My Lord has nothing to lose again, she has everything to gain by establishing a judiciary that is second to none. Let not the Supreme Court on his Lordship issue policy statement that will derail and return us back to the old era,” Oguntepe submitted.

We note with concern that his submission about the excesses of some judicial officers came to the fore again on Monday when the new CJN took her oath of office. Indeed, sadly, we recall that a few days to October 5, scheduled date for the 2024 local government elections in Rivers State, the exercise has been enmeshed in deep controversies as both the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, have been handed two separate court orders from different High Courts.

Whereas a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, while ruling on a lawsuit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday barred the INEC from releasing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) ahead of the council polls and prohibited the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Services from offering security support for the upcoming elections, a State High Court in Port Harcourt ordered the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, to use the 2023 voters’ register and proceed with the local government elections this Saturday.

Specifically, the presiding Judge, Justice I. P. C. Igwe gave the order while delivering judgement in Suit No: PHC/2696/CS/2024, filed by Action Peoples Party (APP) as Plaintiff/Applicant against RSIEC, Rivers State Government, and Governor of Rivers State as 1st to 3rd Respondents. However, despite the controversies, the RSIEC Chairman, Retired Justice Adolphus Enebeli has given assurance that the commission will conduct the council polls as scheduled.

In other words, we are convinced that the new CJN having been a  Magistrate, served in the State High Court and Appeal Courts before her latest appointment, is in the best stead to anchor the needed transformation that will enable Nigeria to consolidate her democracy, for the judiciary to rid itself of bad eggs, tackle corruption and nepotism as well as ensure speedy dispensation of justice to all litigants without fear or favour and to the satisfaction of most citizens.

Kekere-Ekun, who succeeded Justice Kayode Ariwoola, in our view, parades the brilliant credentials required of her exalted office and the second female CJN in the country’s history, after Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, who was in office from July 2012 to November 2014.

Born in London, United Kingdom on May 7, 1958, she attended Queen’s College, Lagos, in 1970, the University of Lagos between 1977 and 1980, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in law,  Nigerian Law School between 1980 and 1981  was called to the Nigerian Bar in July 1981.

From 1981 to 1982, she had her National Youth Service Corps at the Ministry of Justice, Benin City, Bendel State (now Edo State) and proceeded to the London School of Economics and Political Science where she obtained a Master’s degree in law in 1983.

The CJN’s meritorious rise in the Bench began when she was appointed

Senior Magistrate Grade II in December 1989, by the Lagos State Judiciary; a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State on July 19, 1996, and elevated as justice to the Court of Appeal in September 2004. At the Court of Appeal, she served in five different divisions across the country namely  Presiding Justice of the Makurdi Division of the Court of Appeal; Presiding Justice of the Akure Division of the Court of Appeal before her elevation to the Supreme Court on July 8, 2013.

We are confident in the ability of Kekere-Ekun to engender a legacy of radical reforms that will ultimately birth a new era of the justice system that will restore the waning public confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, sustain our people’s confidence in democracy, shun the temptation of resorting to self-help knowing full well that there is an arbiter that can give them redress if they are wronged, remains truly independent and leave no stone unturned to further entrench the rule of law during her tenure.

For a better society

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