Jega exposes ‘technical’ SANs, judges buying, selling election judgements

INEC former chairman Attahiru Jega has exposed lawyers and judges merchandising election judgements in Nigeria.

According to him, the corrupt judges get their appointment to electoral tribunals when their retirement is close by, thus giving them opportunities to milk the highest bidders, and then retire.

Jega said this in a lecture he delivered at the Owolabi Afuye Memorial Lecture organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, Ibadan Branch, as part of the events to mark its 2021 Law Week.

“Some senior lawyers have become stupendously wealthy defending corrupt public officials, or handling electoral litigation for governorship and presidential candidates,” Jega said in the lecture.

“Similarly, many judges have become notorious for corrupt enrichment for ‘cash and carry’ judgments, especially in election matters generally and in election tribunals, more specifically.

“Some election tribunal appointments were in the past widely said to have been made to senior judges about to retire, who allegedly ‘sold’ judgments, most likely to the highest bidders, enriched themselves and quickly retired to avoid being sanctioned by the National Judicial Council.

“When lawyers use technicalities to subvert justice and ‘win’ cases without regard to perpetration of injustices, they basically help to undermine, rather than enhance national development, peaceful coexistence and security.

“They discard ethical and professional conduct, and put parochial and/or self-serving objectives in the forefront of their practices.”

Jega said the NBA and the Body of Benchers needed to urgently address the issue to save the country from crisis.