Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state yesterday said that the judicial arm of government must be purged of corruption for the country to win its battle against the vice.
The governor, who spoke at a church service held at the Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Ado Ekiti to usher in the 2015/2016 legal year, regretted that the judiciary had been enmeshed in corruption and also compromised.
Also in his sermon, the Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Anglican Communion, Christopher Omotunde, urged members of the judiciary to allow the fear of God to guide them while passing judgment.
The bishop said, “As you go and preside over the destiny of others, remain impartial and discharge your duties with the fear of God.”
The governor, who mentioned corruption as a major problem in Nigeria, maintained that ” 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 robbers 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 the Yobe 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.
“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.”
