• Cleric urges judiciary to deliver post-election judgments fairly

Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has urged legal scholars across Nigeria and in the diaspora to uphold absolute independence and integrity in the discharge of their duties without fear or favour.

The traditional ruler gave the advice when the League of Luminaries, under the auspices of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1984, paid a courtesy visit to the Benin Palace at the weekend in Benin City, the Edo State capital.
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Oba Ewuare urged members of the group, who are well-equipped with knowledge, to use their positions to strengthen the Nigerian judiciary and preserve institutional memories both in principle and in practice, in line with the legal maxim that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

The Oba described the judiciary as the bedrock of democracy, and prayed to Almighty God and his royal ancestors for members of the group, which includes eminent personalities in engineering, science, politics, and other professions of Nigerian extraction across the globe, to achieve greater exploits, while acknowledging the unsolicited respect for Benin culture and tradition by the group.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins, has urged the judiciary to address complaints that would arise after elections in fairness, paying attention to all evidence before delivering judgments.

This was at the 2026 New Legal Year Mass and Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos yesterday, organised by the National Association of Catholic Lawyers (NACL).

He charged politicians aspiring to positions to do so based on their capacity, not by attempting to influence people’s decisions with material things. The archbishop also admonished them to prevent violence at all costs, but to present an agenda that can transform every citizen and the nation.

“There is a lot of difficulty in our country today. Politicians should gather all the thoughts of people and ensure that they work out ways to rectify them,” he said.