Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose yesterday took a swipe at the Judiciary and declared that arm of government as “corrupt”.

The governor, who spoke at a service held at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Ado Ekiti to usher in the 2015/2016 legal year, regretted that the judiciary had not only been deeply enmeshed in corruption but also compromised.

The governor, who mentioned corruption as a major problem in Nigeria noted that, “The judiciary has the power of life and death but this sensitive arm of government has been compromised and most judgments in Nigeria today are monetised. If the battle against corruption can be won between the Bar and the Bench, it will be won in the society.”

He added, “Due to the cancer of financial inducement that has eaten deep into the fabric of our judicial system, it is only in Nigeria that a political armed robber will orchestrate the trial of somebody before a corrupt judge, all in the name of waging anti- corruption war.

“When there are glaring facts on the table of anti-corruption agencies, they will pretend not to see or look the other way‎ especially if the culprit is a member of their political party or under the directive of power that be. That is why some judges are timid in giving judgments against the ruling party of the day.”
 
Fayose condemned “delay in investigating corruption allegation against a Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) even after evidence before the EFCC that the bank account of the REC had allegedly been credited with money to influence the last governorship election”.

He lamented that the corruption in the judiciary is so endemic that judges lobby to be appointed to serve in election petition tribunals in order to make money and as well influence judgment in favour of their political friends.

Fayose said, “It gets more worrisome when facts have revealed that most of these judgments were written by lawyers for some compromised judges. Some judges also have cases assigned to them to do hatched job thereby descending into the arena of unwholesomeness”.

“Other instances are when judges have to recommend lawyers to clients. A lot of human rights activist lawyers have been working in agreement with some judges to destroy the lives of innocent Nigerians for pecuniary benefits and cheap popularity.

“I therefore want our judges to understand that after here, there is another judgement. As for me, I have never and will never influence judgement for whatever‎ reason. In Ekiti for instance, I don’t have the telephone numbers of judges. 

“If Nigeria is to move forward and for us to have a just society, the judiciary has ‎a major role to play and must be seen to be doing so. This address does not imply that the judiciary is totally devoid of some credible and incorruptible judges whose conducts are commendable”