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our stand Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Challenges Before Bulkachuwa
J
ustice Zainab Bulkachuwa recently made history as the first female president of the Court of Appeal (PCA). At the swearing-in ceremony, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, charged her to protect the name and image of the judiciary and urged her to resist all forms of political pressure and lead by example. The head of the appellate court, who is from Gombe State, had been acting in that capacity for over a year before her appointment was confirmed by President Goodluck Jonathan. Justice Bulkachuwa assumed duty at a time when many stakeholders have expressed worry over what they perceive as unbridled corruption in that arm of the judiciary that is the highest authority on political and electoral matters. For example, former president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Salami, who was removed by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in controversial circumstances, had expressed displeasure that the judicial system, especially the Court of Appeal, was not dispensing justice in a manner expected of it. Recently, insiders have severally revealed the lack of courage
on the part of some judges who, it is alleged, are exploited by either their senior colleagues or retired senior judges who practice as consultants and are induced to fix judgements in favour of cases involving high profile and heavy fee-paying clients. These consultants, it is alleged, take money from litigants to pass on to judges and where this fails, intimidate them to pervert the course of justice. Much as this allegation has not been proved beyond all reasonable doubt, we must point out that since the assumption of office by Mukhtar as the CJN, quite a few identified as bad eggs in the system have been shown the way out. There is, however, in our opinion, still a lot of work to be
Editor Sadiq Abdullateef Deputy Editors Kazeem Akintunde Christian Ochiama Editorial Board Safiya M. Adamu, Chairman Standards Aniebo Nwamu, Director ’Lara Olugbemi, Assistant Director
done to meticulously cleanse the proverbial Augean stable the judiciary is becoming. This, we point out, is part of the challenge Bulkachuwa is faced with. She must be reminded again that her appointment came at a critical time when the judiciary is undergoing reforms. So, her coming on board, more than just a career move, is also a vote of confidence in her ability to reposition and refocus the appellate court and make sure that confidence in the system is restored. Bulkachuwa is expected to engage assiduously ongoing measures to make the judiciary indeed the last hope of the common man. This she can do, by carrying out her assignments with sincerity, uprightness and always bearing her reputation in mind. We urge her to discharge her obligations with wisdom, fair play, independence and commitment. To achieve this, Bulkachuwa must shun all forms of political pressure and carry out her duties in consonance with the oath of office she took. Bearing this in mind, we also stress that the urgency of the situation demands that she maintains a leadership style that will uphold the campaign against corruption in the judiciary.
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