By M. Peter- Jos
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Garbage Pwul, has said that the Nigerian judiciary has enjoyed more independence under the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration than in other times.
Speaking in Jos, the Plateau State capital, Pwul said the judiciary should earn the confidence of other institutions of government and Nigerians particularly in the fight against corruption by ensuring that they appoint Judges who are determined to uphold the integrity of the Bench.
He said, “If you compare the past regime and this current administration you would know that the judiciary has enjoyed independence. Look at the issue of Zamfara Governorship elections, where the ruling party the All Progressives Congress, APC won the whole House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship elections but the Supreme Court later ruled in the favour of the PDP without the executive intervening.
“Let’s look at the APC governorship case in Rivers state in which the ruling party candidate was disqualified by the court and the executive did not intervene unlike previous administration” and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving courts the free hand to discharge their responsibilities.
He commended the efforts of the Judiciary in the last four years saying their activities are better in the period than before and also commended the existing cooperation between the Executive and Legislature stressing that such would ensure speedy development in the country.
On tackling corruption in the judiciary, Pwul added that “There is a critical issue in the discipline of judges that has not been addressed. This is on appointment of judges. It should be the beginning of the fight against corruption in the judiciary. If you appoint people of integrity in the fight against corruption it would be minimal if one or two bad eggs scale through, then getting them out would be easy. But in a situation where people don’t know anything about the appointment, it is very risky to the Bench.”
On cooperation between the legislative arm and Executive he maintained such would bring about development to the country, “I commend the new leadership of the House of Representatives and Senate and call on them to always put the interest of the common man at heart, and to promote national unity. I charge them to always put the interest of Nigerians first.”
