Interview

Where judges are paid peanuts, you can’t expect the best… —Ayorinde, SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR), Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, is the Chairman of the Oyo State Advisory Council. He was a former Member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) and former Chairman of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. Being a member of the International Bar Association (IBA) and alumnus of the University of London, he speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on the prevailing challenges of the Nigerian judiciary, among other issues.

In his assessment of Thursday’s verdict of the Supreme Court on the presidential election petition, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun Adegboruwa, said there can be no real victory in the resolution of the legal issues by the court when the fabrics of our democratic engagements seem to have been hijacked and compromised. What will be your own take on this?

There are certain things we ought to have answers to, but unfortunately, we don’t have answers to them. We just can’t be having this circle every four years when there is an election that will be hotly contested in the field and in the court. The legal so far has taken about six months away from governance. But no matter how the parties try to stand aloof, they will still be affected by any court case that comes up. And this will tend to reduce their concentration on the core issues of governance. So I think it is really not the best, but as a growing democracy, it is still necessary to vigorously contest the results of an election after such results may have been declared.

But if you are to assess the judicial system in Nigeria, what would you say are the problems affecting the sector?

Well, one thing we all should note is that members of the judiciary are not from space; they are also Nigerians and all suffer from the problems that affect the generality of the country. So you can’t expect those in the judiciary to behave outside of how Nigerians behave. Though their behaviour may be a bit better, at the end of the day, they are still Nigerians. But I do not want to think that the judiciary has been hijacked and compromised. I believe the judicial institution has its place; the executive also has its place, and so does the legislature. Despite the prevailing turbulent times, I believe our judiciary is still largely independent. But it needs to do more to further establish, deepen, and demonstrate that independence to the generality of Nigerians.

Is it that they can’t be an unbiased umpire in a case as they are expected to be?

Of course, they can. That is not what I am saying. My point is just that if you don’t improve the status of society, then we will continue to have many bad eggs in the judiciary.

So where do you think the fault comes from: is it from those in power or the people?

Well, without putting the blame on anybody, we still just have a long way to go when it comes to the dispensing of justice in the country. For example, if you look at the Western world, where good democracy is practiced, you will see that their judiciary is well funded. But in Nigeria, we struggle to allocate funds to the judiciary, and as such, we get what we get: garbage in, garbage out. This is because funding is very fundamental. Even if you are going to increase the intellectual capacity of the judiciary and also improve the social welfare of the judicial officers, you need adequate funding to do that. That is just to tell you that the whole issue challenging the judiciary hovers around funding. If you don’t fund the system properly, there is no how you can get proper services, because you can only get what you put in.

But it has been observed that Nigerians seem to have lost confidence in the judiciary, such that some of them believe that what the country operates is simply a blanket judiciary where the highest spender determines the direction of justice. What do you think has got Nigeria to this level?

Well, like I have said, if you do not properly fund the judiciary, you cannot get the best from the system. And when you don’t get the best in terms of effective justice delivery, then, the confidence imposed on the institution will begin to wane. What I am saying in essence is that if you don’t fund, you get poor performance. And when this arises consistently over a period, the people will lose confidence in the entire system. So, let us go back to the drawing board and fund the system properly. In the past, Nigerian judges used to be very well paid, such that their salary could command a decent living even when you consider the rate of inflation in the country about 40 to 50 years ago. But now, Nigerian judges are being paid next to peanuts. How then can you expect the best from them?

So are you saying the lack of funding is the reason some of the judges yield to corrupt practices?

I can imagine that this is a very big factor. Just as you know, one thing leads to the other. Once you have opened up the flanks of the judiciary, then the institution becomes very vulnerable. Secondly, every other thing clearly flows from lack of funding. It is more like going to sleep and leaving your door wide open. Even if you live in the quietest and most secure of areas, after some time, if human beings don’t walk through that door that you left open, cockroaches will walk past it and go in.

But considering the fact that the judiciary is still being funded by the executive, do you think they can have and maintain their independence?

Well, judicial funds should be a first-line charge. That is, the institution should be funded directly from the resources of the country, such that their money will not come from the executive.

Do you think this is achievable in the Nigerian system?

There is nothing that is impossible. You see, for the entire country and I think this will also address the issues affecting the independence of the judiciary. Let us all go back to the debates on restructuring. You often times see Nigerians screaming about restructuring. But the moment we attain political power after winning an election, the whole talk of restructuring is relegated again, which should not be so. If you observe closely, you will see that the South-West was at the forefront of the cry for restructuring during the Buhari era, but since a president from the region took over power, the region has kept quiet and no longer talking about restructuring again. However, in another few years when the region is out of government, while power shifts again to other regions, you then see our people again screaming for restructuring. This should not be the case at all. Does it mean that our clamouring and noisemaking for restructuring in those years came because we were not in power? So we really need to sit down again and trigger up the process for restructuring, especially when the power to do that now stays within our domain. Imagine a farmer that has a farm in Saki; processes his produces in Iseyin and markets them in Ibadan, but when he wants to register his company, you tell him to go to Abuja when all that his company needs to survive very well is within the South-West. So you, there is a problem there. And that is also the problem of the judiciary. That is why we need to restructure. When we do that, each region will then sit down and decide on the kind of regional or state judiciary it wants to run. I am not advocating for the breaking up of the country. But while we remain as one country, we must practise true federalism. That is the only way to survive even as a democracy.

In the Nigerian judicial system, most judges, it is said, often place priority on the technicalities of a case instead of its substance, especially going by some of the verdicts delivered by major courts in the country, including the Supreme Court. Do you think this penchant for technicalities of law over the extant substance of a case is the right way?

Well, technicality is also part of the law. But it should not be the basis upon which major decisions are reached in cases of serious consequence to the country. The Supreme Court ought to be a policy court, which means it must consider every aspect of a case before handing down its decision. So I agree that more should be done in that regard.

In addressing some of the issues plaguing the judiciary, what will you advise the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice?

I am not sure I am competent enough to advise him because he is one of the most accomplished lawyers in the country and he is extremely competent. But if you ask for my take, I will say, first of all, the security agents under him need a change of culture. If there is a suspected crime, they must first investigate the crime. And when they are very sure that the crux of the case has been established, then they can charge the suspect to court. Not what has been happening over the years where security operatives will suspect a person, arrest the person, and put him or her in their custody before embarking on an investigation into the allegation or crime leveled against the person. This culture has to change and I think it should be one area that the AGF will beam his experienced searchlight on.

Again, he has to encourage policies from the Ministry of Justice that will support the inflow of foreign investments into the country. If we are perceived as a country that does not adhere to contractual terms and our judicial system is not ready to meet up when there is a dispute, then it will affect our ability to attract money into the economy of this country. And you know and I know what that means for our challenging economy. It implies that we will continue to lose investments.

Thirdly, which I see is already happening, the Ministry and AGF should ensure that the governments and institutions enjoy the confidence of the people by simply obeying court orders. They can exercise the right of appeal, but they must first obey the court orders. If they can do this, then, woe is on any individual that may wish to flout any order of a competent court in the land. Such a person will know that he will be in trouble. This will be my humble submission to the AGF.

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