FHC: CJN Charges Newly Appointed Judges To Shun Corruption

Today Wednesday, 4th October 2023 the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, charged judges to sever ties with anything that will smear their hands and bring them into disrepute during their assignment.

According to the CJN, the Bench is neither for the indolent, the greedy, nor those with dubious character, who can easily fall for a plate of porridge offered by desperate litigants and charged Judges to, at all times, rise above temptations and trials that might obstruct or even halt their rise to the pinnacle of their careers.

The CJN, who was speaking while swearing in 23 newly appointed Judges of the Federal High Court at the main courtroom of the Supreme Court, told judicial officers to be impartial, fair to all, and apply justice in all their undertakings, saying that “The times that we are in are quite perilous, so we need judicial officers who are calculative, honest, objective and dispassionate in all ramifications.”

Justice Ariwoola said, “Appointment to the Bench is not an appointment to wealth, vainglory, dishonest disposition or ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances. The searchlight of the National Judicial Council (CJN) beams brightly on all judicial officers across the country. The NJC should never, either by omission or commission, be mistaken for a toothless Bulldog.

“It can bark fiercely and bite deeply and aggressively, too. Our radar is sophisticated enough to detect every form of corruption and wrongdoing by Judicial officers, and we will not waste a moment in taking the necessary action to fish out the bad eggs.

“The remoteness of your location of adjudication can never blur our sight on you. We have put in place the right machinery to capture and document your conduct. So, be careful and take heed, or else you may end up regretting ever being appointed a judicial officer”.

He said the entire letters and words of the oath taken by the Judges must reside in a prime place of their heart and be generously applied in their adjudications.

The CJN further noted that no matter how serious or weighty a public opinion is on the judiciary, it cannot override or supersede the Constitution of the country, which judicial officers apply in deciding each case brought before the court.

“We are all humans, no doubt, but you display the humanism in you by doing those extraordinary things that people would ordinarily conclude that you cannot do. That is what separates those with integrity and passion for success from those with low pedigree and dysfunctional moral compass”, he told the newly appointed Judges.