Nigerian judiciary slowing fight against corruption – PACAC

Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti Corruption, (PACAC), Prof Sadiq Isah, has said that the country needs a reliable judicial system to ensure a corruption free nation.

Prof. Isah while speaking with journalists in Abuja yesterday stressed that there must be a judiciary system that is willing to cooperate and deliver its mandate without fear or favor, before democracy can be sustained.

He explained that, for the country to put a proper fight against corruption, certain things need to be in place while listing that a decent and corruption free judiciary, due process, and respect for the judiciary were all that was needed.

“But my view is that there are certain things that need to be put in place, this includes getting a very decent judiciary, there must be due process and respect for the judiciary in this democracy. The judiciary should set example by being corruption free.

“If we have a judiciary that will cooperate and deliver on its mandates that will help and ensure that justice is delivered to those convicted of corruption, not technicalities or elitism, not grand standing.

“There are some lawyers who have turned the issues of corruption into business. You won’t see them acting unless it is a high profile corruption case. They hide under human rights and civil liberties nonsense.

“I feel that for a democracy in the 21st century, to make success it needs to tidy up the society, you need to have a decent, workable, operational, functional and protective judiciary, so that everybody should knows that there is certainty, predictability and reliable adjudication, people would be careful. If we have had the cooperation of the judiciary from 2015 to date, we would have thousands of conviction,” he said.

He further stated that the values of the people have being eroded, which is the very reason corruption has continued to bedevil the country.

He said that situations where the judiciary was unable to give justice as at when due was bound to pose as a big problem in the fight against corruption.

He added that since 2015 the country has been facing the problems of non functional judiciary system noting that this has worsen adjudication and conviction of cases and worked against the fight against corruption.

“But in a situation where you have a bad bench of people who are unable to give justice as at when due then it is a very big problem in the fight against corruption. This is what we have faced since 2015, the culprit are there, the evidence are there, then you keep wondering what are the lawyers and judges doing,” he added.

He commended the present administration’s efforts to ensure a working judiciary system noting that since 2015 to date the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti Corruption which was set up to proffer advice on way to tackle corruption in the country has done a lot in this course.

He further stated “on the fight against corruption you can see that we are making progress though some where we are failing and in-between failing and success”.

(Daily Sun)