With her confirmation by the Senate last week Wednesday, September 25, 2024, as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Hon Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun can now sit at ease as the Head of the Judicial Arm of the Federal Government.
Hon Justice Kekere-Ekun, who emerged as the 23rd CJN after her predecessor, Hon Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, retired on August 22, 2024, comes at a time the image of the Judicial sector of government is at an all-time low.
Her immediate predecessor, Hon Justice Ariwoola, largely failed in his pledge to bequeath a “robust” judiciary. Though the welfare packages of judicial officers were massively upgraded by President Bola Tinubu under Ariwoola’s watch, the former CJN was unable to do much about corruption in that sector.
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The Supreme Court ruling that allows the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to flout its own guidelines and the electoral law in conducting elections and announcing results is an albatross on our democracy. It encouraged the INEC to come out with results that did not reflect the will of the people.
One of the main challenges before Hon Justice Kekere-Ekun is to reposition the Judiciary as an impartial arbiter in our elections. The Constitution vests the Judiciary with the duty of giving justice to whom it is due over electoral disputes. Many judges have capitalised on this noble role to make the Judiciary the final decider of electoral mandates. That is unacceptable. Power belongs to the people. Our democracy will die if this power is hijacked by any Arm of government.
The second area the new CJN must focus efforts on is absolute respect for the principle of judicial precedent. It is required that once a court of competent jurisdiction has determined a case, unless it is upturned by a higher court, it becomes the basis of law in that area. With the digital revolution, it is now possible to ensure that all verdicts are automatically sent to the relevant judicial divisions to ensure the application of judicial precedent.
Kekere-Ekun should apply zero tolerance to the epidemic of conflicting judgements by judges of coordinate jurisdictions. It not only corrupts the judiciary and perverts justice, it also makes a mockery of them and renders Nigeria’s justice sector a laughingstock.
More efforts should also be made to bring on the Constitutional Court to focus on political cases, especially election-related ones. The much-touted need for “special courts” to tackle crimes like drugs, terrorism and others, should be fast-tracked and more judicial personnel deployed to handle them. The current system – the 1844 model of the English Court – as Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) calls it, should be upgraded for faster and more effective dispensation of justice.
We wish CJN Kekere-Ekun a successful tenure.
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