President-elect, Bola Tinubu, yesterday, pledged that his administration would put incentives and policies in place to make corruption unattractive for judges and other legal officials working in the judiciary.
Tinubu made the promise during the inauguration of the Magistrate Courts Complex in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by one of his media aides, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz.
The event was part of Tinubu’s two-day visit to the state to inaugurate projects executed by the Nyesom Wike administration.
In attendance were Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (Kwara) and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), among others.
Tinubu said that with the right incentives that guarantee conducive working atmosphere and policies that make it easy for workers to acquire credit facilities for essential needs, the temptation for corruption would reduce.
“You don’t expect your judges to live in squalor, to operate in squalor and dispense justice in squalor. This is part of the changes that are necessary. We must fight corruption but we must definitely look at the other side of the coin.
“If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt, you got to pay attention to their welfare. You don’t want them to operate in hazardous conditions,” he said.
The President-elect also noted that the lack of consumer credit, which could make it easy for workers to acquire property such as houses and cars, make them susceptible to corruption.
Tinubu also reiterated his commitment to the unity of Nigeria, promising to be fair to all.
He stated: “Consumer credit will reduce the propensity for corruption. We don’t want our judges to play foul, to compromise justice. I promise we are going to review all of these in a policy think tank.
Tinubu commended Wike for providing judges and magistrates the best working and living conditions.
His commendation came just as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole, explained why he failed to identify with the President-elect during his visit to the state to inaugurate projects.
Cole said: “Where the issue is that the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, ought also to be the governor of all Rivers people.
“And one of the things that he should have done, if he is inviting the President-elect, would have been to call us as APC in Rivers State to inform us that he is inviting the President-elect and would want us to be part of that programme. But, we never got any invitation, I was never invited personally and I was not invited in my private capacity as a candidate of the party, neither was our party in the state invited to any of those things.
“I believe that is where the difference between the President-elect acting in his capacity as President-elect for all Nigerians and Wike acting in his capacity as a governor of just a particular Rivers people. That is where our disagreement stands,” he added.
Meanwhile, the President-elect has knocked those he accused of misinterpreting his “I owe you nothing” response to Wike’s request for refund, explaining that he meant he would not promise Wike anything because his tenure had not started.
Tinubu, who stressed that he wouldn’t want to quarrel with anybody before he assumes office, said poverty of thinking and reasoning was responsible for the wrong interpretation given to his statement, noting that it was time for Nigerians to tolerate one another and live together.
Tinubu had, on Wednesday, responded to a request by Wike for refunds for projects in the state, during the inauguration of Rumuokwuta-Rumuola Flyover.
He said: “There can only be one president at a time. I cannot commit to spending on behalf of the outgoing president, when my tenure has not started.”
On the houses for magistrates built by Wike, he said: “Wike is fighting corruption. This is the way to fight corruption. If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt, you have to pay attention to their welfare.”
