Judiciary, only hope in fight against corruptionn - Bakare

“If Nigeria must fight corruption and insecurity effectively, the judiciary remains the hope of the country.”
The  Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, made this declaration at the weekend, in a keynote address delivered at the annual dinner of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, held in honour of Chief Afe Babalola, as part of its 2013 Law Week activities.
Pastor Bakare, who reiterated that he had confidence in the rule of law and the judiciary to bail out the country, was examining the high level of the twin evils of corruption and insecurity ravaging the country.
According to him, “the path of justice is the surest way to return our nation to a state of security, stability and peace.
“Every legislation and source of law aimed at combating crime, terrorism and other manifestation of insecurity must be applied judiciously and independently of executive manipulation,” he said.
Pastor Bakare further referred to the dismissal of the 171 money laundering charges against the former governor of  Delta State, James Ibori,  describing it as a sham as well as that of Dr Erastus Akingbola where the trial judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru was elevated to the Appeal Court when judgement was about to be delivered in the matter.
He accused the bar and the bench of collaborating to thwart the course of justice and for what is happeningcurrently in the country.
“We seem to have forgotten that justice is the ligament which holds civilised beings and civilised nations together.”
He cautioned Nigerians against thinking that the declaration of state of emergency in three states of the North to curb Boko Haram activities would save the day.

“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of peace.”

The way out of the trouble, he stated was “to bring justice and power together so that whatever is just may be powerful and whatever is powerful may be just.”

According to him, “justice must be administered without fear or favour and that where the law proves insufficient to judiciously deal with cases, judicial activism should lead the cause of progressive development of the law.”

He described the judiciary as the last hope of the common man and the institution that must rise to restore the predictability of systems that guaranteed security in the society.

“Therefore, in dealing with the twin devils, we must not put the cart before the horse. Corruption must be dealt with first.

“The Judiciary must use the instrumentality of law and judicial activism to enforce and further develop our numerous anti-corruption laws, especially the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004 and the Public Procurement Act 2007.”

The national leader of the SNG said that the judiciary must become the vehicle for holding government accountable to section 14(2) of the constitution which states that the security and welfare of the people shall be primary purpose of government.

“The judiciary must take the lead in making that section of our constitution justiciable”, he said.

Justice of the Supreme court, Chukwuma-Eneh, in his speech said that law is very pivotal to effecting orderly change and in preserving public order in the society.
He said that the National Judicial Council (NJC), under the chairmanship of  Justice Aloma Mukhtar, has taken a frontal position to reclaim the great name of the judiciary and put it on proper track.

He urged lawyers to critically reexamine themselves and play the role the society expected them to play  as legal practitioners.

The Attorney General, Ade Ipaye in his remarks urged lawyers to as legal practitioners, advance the course of justice and reverse what he termed “the unfortunate progress of impunity which stem from disrespect for law.

“We should re-appraise our role in the system; “are we advancing the course of justice?”, he asked.

“I believe that we should be the one to turn Nigeria around by making the judiciary to play the role it is expected to play”, he added.

Source: http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/item/12939-judiciary-only-hope-in-fight-against-corruptionn-bakare