This week, the present CJN will retire from office and from the bench too. Senior Correspondent, JUDE KENNETH, x-rays her performance and lapses, as well as what Nigerians expect from her successor.
On November 20, 2014, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar, will bow out of office from the leadership of one of the three arms of government – the Judiciary. She will be leaving office, having clocked the mandatory retirement age of 70 years from her birth on November 20, 1944.
History was made on July 16, 2012 when she became the first female CJN, the 13th indigenous CJN and Chairman of National Judicial Council (NJC). She is also the first female lawyer from Northern Nigeria at the age of 22, first female judge of the High Court of Kano, first female Justice of the Court of Appeal (JCA) and first female Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC).
During her screening by the Senate in July 2012, she admitted the increasing and disturbing rate of corruption in the judiciary, saying: “It is very bad, and I am saddened by it. I will try as much as possible to ensure that as for the bad eggs that are there, there will be a cleansing by the NJC based on petitions.”
As she bows out of office this month, it becomes imperative to review her performance and lapses during the period she held sway as the head of the nation’s judiciary.
Performance
Stakeholders in the sector posited that she has performed well as the head of the judiciary and chairman of NJC, an independent body vested with, among other things, appointing, dismissing and disciplining judges across Nigeria. Since she took over from Justice Dahiru Musdapher as CJN, she has repositioned the NJC to take up the arduous task of restoring confidence in the judiciary.
Former chairman of Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, said the outgoing CJN did not have much time to carry out fundamental restructuring; but with her little tenure in office, she performed very well. He added that the CJN deserves kudos in the area of disciplining erring judges, pointing out that judges are now really on their toes.
Said he: “They have sat up, sitting on time and no more coming to court late. I score her 80 per cent.”
A Lagos lawyer, Benson Ndakara, said Aloma-Mukhtar performed creditably, especially in the areas of discipline and promptness to duties. He recollected that some judges were retired due to gross misconduct, while others were either warned or suspended. According to Ndakara, the sanctioning of the judges was due to the bold and courageous step taken by the CJN.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Felix Fagbohungbe, said the outgoing CJN brought new dimension in the judiciary. According to him, “She brought in discipline in the judiciary. No other CJN has performed better.”
Some of the reforms and disciplinary actions carried out by the outgoing CJN to rid the judiciary of bad eggs include the retirement of some judges who were indicted for wrongdoing.
The NJC under her leadership, on February 21, 2013, held an emergency meeting where pending cases of judicial misconduct against some judges were reviewed. After deliberations, the council recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Charles Archibong who was transferred from Lagos to Port Harcourt Federal High Court, and Justice Thomas Naron of the Plateau State High Court for judicial misconduct.
Justice Naron, who presided over the dissolved Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal, was found to have communicated regularly with ex-Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s counsel, Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN), through telephone and SMS messages, while the tribunal was trying the election petition filed by Rauf Aregbesola.
In the case of Archibong, he was said to have dismissed the 26-count charge against Erastus Akingbola, ex-managing director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, without taking his plea. It was established that he made uncomplimentary and reckless remarks on the competence of four SANs and refused to release a certified true copy (CTC) of his ruling to them. He convicted some political party leaders for contempt when the contempt application was not served on them, delivered judgment in a case commenced by original summons without written addresses filed by parties.
Other judges disciplined by the NJC under the leadership of CJN are Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court, who was warned before his retirement from the Bench; Justice Mohammed Talba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court was suspended for one year; and Lawal Hassan Gumi, the Chief Judge of FCT, opted to resign instead of waiting for the investigation of the allegations of misconduct against him.
Lawyers are not left out in the cleansing of the judiciary by the CJN, as the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), which she heads, suspended a SAN indefinitely, while the NJC referred another to NBA for discipline on account of allegations of professional misconduct.
To control incessant travelling abroad by judges at the expense of their duties, they were restricted from travelling out without written permission of the CJN, and not to leave their stations without the consent of their superiors in that station.
In area of performance, CJN warned judges to deliver at least four judgments in a year or be ready to quit the judiciary, stressing that the nation cannot continue to keep indolent judges on the bench. She further directed that sitting of courts should commence at 9am, instead of the usual practice whereby judges stroll into courtrooms lackadaisically at noon without any justifiable reason.
Lapses
However, having enumerated some of the credible performances of the Kano-born jurist during her tenure as the CJN, she also has her Achilles heels.
According to Ubani, she did not handle the problem of Rivers State judiciary well. The appointment of judges should be reviewed to prevent lawyers of questionable character or who lack the knowledge of law from finding their way to the bench.
One of the major lapses spotted by Ndakara was the CJN’s inability to appoint more judges for the Federal High Court. He noted that many judges were retired either voluntarily or compulsorily, but no new judges have been appointed to fill the vacant places, adding that the non-appointment of new judges have adversely affected adjudication of cases and quick dispensation of cases.
Fagbohungbe observed that some of the judicial officers complain of her high handedness. The NJC should endeavour to give adequate time and opportunity to judges accused of misconduct with a view to confronting the allegations made against them.
Another area, which the outgoing CJN did not address properly, is independence of the judiciary. She is unable to secure full financial autonomy and independence of the judiciary as the third arm of the government. The courts are yet to be equipped with electronic recording machines, as judges still record proceedings manually.
Successor
As Aloma-Mukhtar retires this week, the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has recommended Justice Mahmud Mohammed for appointment as next CJN. At the last meeting of FJSC, it unanimously recommended Justice Mohammed to the NJC, will eventually recommend him to President Goodluck Jonathan for approval. Last week, Jonathan forwarded Mohammed’s name to the Senate for confirmation.
Born in Jalingo, Taraba State, Justice Mohammed is the most senior JSC after Aloma-Mukhtar and is currently the deputy chairman of the NJC. He will be the 14th indigenous CJN.
Expectations
Stakeholders would want the incoming CJN to toe the line of his predecessor and consolidate on the gains and feats she recorded in the judiciary.
Ubani posited that she should study the woman, toe the line of more reforms and discipline, restore the hope of the common man, which lies in the judiciary.
Ndakara advised the incoming CJN to tackle the issue of appointment of new judges in the Federal High Court as soon as he assumes office, while Fagbohungbe opined that the incoming CJN should be liberal but firm in decision-taking.
It is hoped that the new CJN will start from where Aloma-Mukhtar stopped and improve on sanitising the judiciary.
The incoming CJN should pursue vigorously the full financial autonomy of the judiciary so as not to always go to the executive cap-in-hand for release of funds for the running of the judiciary.
He should also endeavour to equip the courts well for recording of court proceedings.
