Judiciary Needs Total Organisational, Financial Autonomy – Adegboruwa, SAN

There is the urgent need for Nigeria’s judiciary to be sufficiently funded and totally independent, to enable it to function efficiently and remain the last hope of the masses.

A legal luminary, Mr Ebun Adegboruwa, SAN, gave the indication at the 12th Public Lecture of Ogun State Bar and Bench Forum, held at the State Judiciary Complex, Abeokuta.

In the lecture entitled, “the Role of the Judiciary in Democratic Government: A Social Engineering or Quagmire?”, Mr Adegboruwa described the judiciary as an essential instrument for the resolution of grievances in institutions and among the people.

While encouraging lawyers and judges to always exhibit fairness in handling cases, the legal practitioner emphasized the need for the judiciary to hold the government responsible and accountable on national issues, for the citizens to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

In a remark, the chairman of the occasion, Professor Olanrewaju Onadeko, SAN, called for attitudinal change among the members of the bar and bench, stating that the way many of them handled cases had impacted negatively on the administration of justice, with a reminder that justice delayed was justice denied.

Declaring the lecture open, Ogun State Chief Judge, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu pointed out that a formidable judiciary was the bedrock of good governance, as the quick dispensation of justice would greatly enhance nation building, hence the need for judicial officers to rise up to the task.

Justice Dipeolu stated that the topic of the lecture was timely in the surge of election petitions across the country emanating from the just concluded general elections, noting that the integrity, astuteness, and strength of both the bar and bench were the hope of the entire citizenry, as they expected the judiciary to maintain law and order, as well as ensure the protection of human rights.