President: Judiciary Is Corrupt

From The Guardian
by Lemmy Ughegbe, Abuja

August 7, 2005—PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday took a swipe at the Nigerian judiciary, adjudging it to be corrupt, and partly responsible for the perception by Nigerians and others that they could not get justice without money.

Not even religious institutions, the police and members of the private sector escaped the scrutiny of the President at a time the nation's Chief Justice is facing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged bribery scandal.

Although the President said corruption in the judicial system was not total, he noted that it was the reason for the abuse of rule of law since people no longer believe that judicial pronouncements were made by judges without having been influenced by money.

At the first executive session of the Fourth National Seminar on Economic Crimes at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Training and Research Institute at Karu in Abuja , Obasanjo lamented that corruption had eroded the people's faith in the country and dampened their loyalty.

His words: "Corruption in Nigeria has led to a dampening of patriotism as people lose hope in the nation and believe that they can never get justice without money or nepotism.

"Abuse of the electoral process as the struggle for power is tied to the reckless spending of money in preparation for the cornering or privatisation of public funds; and with the abuse of the rule of law and access to justice at even the judiciary, what should be the hope of the ordinary citizen has become corrupted, at least to some extent."

The President also lamented that "corruption has weakened the public security system, especially the police that came to be known for its pathological fixation on collection of bribes and illegal toll and levies."

While observing that the private sector was also part of corrupt practices, he accused the members of being the forebears in corrupting public officers just to cut corners and secure undeserved contracts from government.

Religious institutions were accused by Obasanjo of indulging in corrupt practices. "Even a clerk who donates a N10 million organ or builds part of a place of worship or pays for the First Class tickets of a religious leader and his family plus vacation cost abroad is never questioned.

"Rather, such a crook receives prayers and praise from the religious leader, but, of course, not from God who knows all things."

And he queried: "How can a nation make progress when the places of worship engage in a cold and very silent response to corruption?"

Obasanjo, who said corruption had cost the nation so much and brought it immeasurable pain, however, said that Nigeria was recording success in its bid to combat the "socio-economic" scourge and realise the vision of a new Nigeria .

"The good news is that we are steadily moving away from our past towards a new Nigeria; a Nigeria based on hope, unity, foresight, courage, and collective dedication to the common good. The new Nigeria subscribes fully to entrenching the culture of due process, accountability, fair competition, social justice and transparency," he stated.

He called on all to put an end to "godfatherism and the commercialisation of politics," saying it promotes corruption at all levels.

He warned, "once you take money from a politician, you can be sure that he or she would retrieve his or her 'investment' several times over on getting to power. That is how corruption is encouraged and sustained and the diversion of funds from development and basic needs become routinised."

While lamenting that state governors were not committed to the anti-corruption efforts of the Federal Government, he reiterated his faith in the EFCC.

According to him: "The EFCC has shown that with courage, dedication, patriotism, leadership and a total anti-corruption disposition, mountains can be moved and justice secured for the nation."

Earlier, the EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, thanked the President for his support, saying:

"We assure you we will battle corruption to its knees. Let the unwary beware and those who are still in doubt about our determination in eradicating corruption have a rethink, for there is no alternative to good governance and the rule of law."