The Chief Justice of Adamawa, Justice Hapsat Abdulraman, yesterday stated that corruption has entered the judiciary, a situation she described as worrisome for the growth of democracy.
   
The first female CJ of Adamawa called on members of the bar and bench to unite and fashion out strategies to stamp out corruption in the system. She noted corruption as a general problem in the country and worldwide, but that it is for the judiciary to fight the ugly development.
 
Declaring open the Law Week, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri assured the state’s judiciary that his administration would ensure that the welfare of judicial officers tops his priorities.
 
Chairman of NBA in the state, Hassan Maidawa, in his welcome address, said the judiciary is on trial due to the criticism it is facing over political judgments.
 
He cautioned lawyers against writing petitions against judges and criticising them in the media, pointing out that the relationship between the judiciary and lawyers has broken to the detriment of the ordinary Nigerian.

MEANWHILE, Plateau State Election Petitions Tribunal member, Justice Abdulaziz Waziri, has cleared the air on the controversy surrounding the tribunal judgment, which sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
 
Speaking yesterday in Yola at the 2023 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Adamawa chapter Law Week, Waziri dismissed claims that the case was a pre-election matter.
 
“I was a member of the panel; so I will speak on the National Assembly and House of Assembly judgment. I will not comment on the governorship because the case is before the apex court,” he said.
 
He disclosed that the tribunal’s judgment was strictly based on the judgment of a Plateau High Court, which ruled that the People Democratic Party (PDP) had no party executive validly nominated or voted to pilot the party’s affairs.

FORMER Chief Judge (CJ) of Plateau, Justice Bamale Bansi, said military governments were treating the judiciary better than the present democratic government.  He said that progressive democracy could not be achieved in Nigeria, if the executive and legislators continue to treat the Judiciary arm of government as an unimportant sector.
 
“My gratuity was paid 12 years after I retired from office in 20211. The executive and legislature would share Christmas and sallah welfare, but nobody thinks of us in the judiciary. Such a system cannot see democracy grow,” he said.
 
According to Bansi, welfare is part of good governance; so, the executive at both state and federal levels should include judicial officers, serving and retired, in their welfare budget for a smooth legal system.