The Bar, Bench have greater role to play — Sani, ex-ACF secretary

THE prevalence of elected officers sired by the courts instead of the ballot has more to do with the nature of our judiciary that relishes in delivering technical justice at the expense of substantive justice which comes from natural justice and common decency. And that detracts from the confidence and credibility of both the judiciary and of the democracy itself which is expected to thrive on triple foundation of justice, liberty and common decency.

In order to remedy the unsavory situation, Nigerians may consider believing in tenets of democracy that thrives on majority rule of ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people’ by making judicious use of their democratic right and ensure that their votes count so that the ensuing elected leaders would act in representative capacity. That way, the people would not allow irregularity of vote-buying by plutocrats to hold sway. That way, the people will stop incentives for corruption and force elected officers to be accountable to the electorate.

Also, our courts should avoid the practice of delivering judgement based on technicality and concentrate on natural justice of common decency which most Nigerians share. It was J P Morgan who once wrote that no matter how good the law might be, its usefulness to society rests on the oars of the practitioners.

That means Nigerian lawyers, on both the bar and the bench, need to know that law has both letter and spirit. Were law a matter of pedantic letter alone bereft of didactic spirit, there would be no need to read law as a profession. Mastering of the language would do. And that is why it is often said that a country with too many laws comprises incompetent lawyers. Our lawyers must, therefore, brace up to the reality and reform the judiciary for performance. Once the lawyers in both the Bar and the Bench decide to deliver substantive justice in line with natural justice and common decency, and Nigerians make judicious use of their democratic rights and ensure that votes count, the incidence of courts spawning our elected officers will reduce and our leaders, especially governors, would be accountable to the voters by delivering on the promise of democracy. That way, the influence of kleptocrats and plutocrats in the polity will reduce substantially.”

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