- The chief justice of Nigeria advised judges to be wary of politicians as the country moves closer to the 2019 general elections
- He said desperate politicians could ridicule and embarrass judicial officers who opened their doors to them
- He also said his goal is to return the Nigerian judiciary to its lost glory
Justice Walter Onnoghen, the chief justice of Nigeria, on Thursday, December 14, warned judges to beware of the kind of politicians they move with as the country moves closer to the 2019 general elections.
The chief justice said that politicians in their desperation to advance their political interests could ridicule and embarrass judicial officers who opened their doors to them, Punch reports.
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NAIJ.com gathers that Onnoghen said this in Abuja while declaring open this year’s edition of the Annual Conference of Justices of Court of Appeal.
The CJN said: “Let me remind us that our salvation remains in our hands; so in the approaching frenzied political activities leading to the 2019 general elections let us continue to watch the company we keep, the people we open our doors to lest we unwittingly open ourselves to ridicule and embarrassment as the politicians will do anything not necessarily legal, to have their way including destroying our hard earned reputation and integrity.”
Onoghen stated that his goal is to leave behind “a judiciary that has been returned to its glory as a noble and enviable institution in every sense of the word.”
NAIJ.com previously reported that the chief justice said that the independence of the judiciary can only be sustained and guaranteed when there is no interference by the other arms of government in the discharge of its duties.
He said closely linked to the independence of the judiciary was the need for governments and institutions to always obey court orders and judgments, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
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Source: Naija.ng