2023: I won’t condone recklessness, abuse of public trust, CJN warns judges

HURIWA insists on BVAS, electoral offences commission

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, has cautioned judges billed to adjudicate on the 2023 general elections to do so with integrity, promising he would not “condone any act of recklessness, abuse of power and public trust.”

The CJN issued the warning in Abuja, yesterday, while inaugurating members of Election Petition Tribunals. He told the members: “Trust is a burden, and you must discharge it with utmost sincerity, honesty and transparency, because conscience is an open wound healed only by truth. You must rise and operate above every sentiment that might play out in the course of your adjudication in the various tribunals.”

Ariwoola admitted that while “temptations, tribulations, intimidations and even sheer blackmails may be unleashed,” the judicial officers, as thoroughbred, must guard their loins to rise above them and do what would earn them accolades from their Creator and the court of public opinion.

He added: “Even though I rejoice with you on this very important appointment, I still sympathise with you for the many troubles, inconveniences, verbal assaults and all sorts of uncomplimentary remarks that will be made about you by various litigants in the course of your adjudication, especially if your conscience is not controlling your conduct.

We are all humans, no doubt, but you display the humanism in you by doing those extraordinary things that people would ordinarily say you cannot do. That is what distinguishes those with integrity and passion for success from those with unenviable pedigree and dysfunctional moral compass.”

In his remarks, Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, promised that the commission would continue to abide by court orders and urged the judiciary to be consistent in its judgments.

MEANWHILE, Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), yesterday, insisted on the need for INEC to deploy the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) for the 2023 elections.

National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, also called for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission to punish rogue politicians and compromised electoral referees.