AS the 2019 general elections draw near, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen on Tuesday charged Judges to resolve all political cases brought to their court on merit, without any external influence in the delivery of the judgments.
In a message to the 34th Annual Conference of Judges of the Federal High Court, the CJN called on Judges to uphold democracy by ensuring that their judgments that are free of corruption.
Justice Onnoghen, who spoke through a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice John Inyang Okoro disclosed that with the forthcoming 2019 general elections, courts will be flooded with litigation and that Judges, as umpire must decide all the cases that will be assigned to them on merits.
While pointing out that, it is the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections, Onnoghen said the judiciary is charged with the responsibility of resolving issues arising from the elections.
He charged Judges to perform their judicial functions in line with the provisions of Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, stressing that Judges must rise up to the coming challenges by cleaning up their houses and dump the toga of corruption.
The CJN specifically asked the Judges to steer the nation to transparency and good governance so as to enable democracy to flourish.
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He maintained that respect for the rule of law is pivotal to the survival of democracy and pleaded with Judges to carry out their judicial functions in line with the constitution.
“Let me emphasise that this Judges annual conference is a stock-taking event, especially now that the tempo of political activities will be on the increase, we, as Judges must do everything to nurture the nascent democracy by cleaning up our house and dump the toga of corruption.
“In the discharge of our functions, we must strive to steer the nation to transparency and good governance and stem the tide of bad governance by avoiding external influence in our justice delivery,” he said.
Justice Onnoghen congratulated Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati on his appointment as the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, after months of uncertainties and expressed happiness that the court has improved on the past performance since he took over.
Earlier in his address, Justice Abdu-Kafarati told participants that the purpose of the week-long conference is to take stock and appraise the judicial functions of the previous year and to resolve knotty issues that may have arisen after the previous legal year.
Justice Abdu-Kafarati pleaded with the Judges to re-dedicate themselves to the law and constitution and continue to carry out their functions without fear or favour.
The Chief Judge re-emphasised his earlier directive to Judges, especially the newly appointed ones, never to grant exparte orders unless in very exceptional cases, adding that, it is better to hear all sides before a decision is taken so as to avoid unnecessary controversy in the adjudication process.
He spoke on the need to be extra careful in handling political cases because of their nature, adding that, “Actions or inactions by a Judge, no matter how honestly done is capable of misinterpretation.”
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