Human Rights Activist Calls for Reforms of Nigeria’s Judicial System
Emma Okonji and Agnes Ekebuike
Following the conflicting court orders that escalated the challenges rocking local government polls in Rivers State, a human rights activist, Liborous Oshoma, has called for urgent reforms of Nigeria’s judicial system.
Oshoma, who spoke yesterday on ARISE News Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers, raised concerns over the increasing politicization of Nigeria’s judiciary, while calling for urgent reforms to insulate the judiciary from political interference. He emphasised the detrimental impact of conflicting judicial orders on the country’s democratic processes, insisting that the judicial system needs urgent reforms.
Oshoma noted that while Nigerians are generally law-abiding, politics has become a destructive force within the nation’s judiciary.
“Everything that politicians touch in this country, they destroy it,” he said, adding that the root of the challenges lies in the involvement of courts in pre- and post-election matters.
Oshoma said: “The only way to solve the problem is to remove election-related cases from the courtroom.”
“Once politicians realize that the judiciary no longer plays a role in determining election outcomes, their interest in influencing the courts will diminish.”
He recalled past instances of conflicting judgements, highlighting the example of the Supreme Court taking over election petitions that were originally handled by the Court of Appeal.
“Before now, governorship election petitions used to end at the Court of Appeal. What led to the Supreme Court’s involvement? As far back as 1992, Justice Ikpeme’s famous order restraining the conduct of elections created controversy. Segun Adeniyi’s book, ‘Politics, People, and Power’, mentioned how some governors at the time tried to influence their state Chief Justices to issue contradictory orders,” he said.
The problem persists today, Oshoma said, referring to recent examples such as “a court in Abuja removing the former APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, from office, only for a court in Kano to issue a contradictory order. This judicial inconsistency also plagued the PDP’s internal conflicts in 2015, further eroding public trust in the legal system.
“Today, we hear an order from Abuja, and the next day a conflicting order from Rivers State Federal High Court. Courts of equal status should not be issuing contradictory judgement on similar matters.”
Oshoma suggested that one solution could be the introduction of an electronic docket system within the judiciary. This system, he explained, would allow Judges to cross-check pending cases and ensure that similar matters are not handled simultaneously by different courts. He also called for stricter oversight of case assignments to prevent forum shopping by politicians seeking favorable rulings.
“The federal judiciary must implement administrative procedures to avoid such contradictions. The Chief Judge can easily implement this through practice directions, without the need for a constitutional amendment,” he said.
The activist also pointed to the broader issue of political influence over judicial appointments, suggesting that the appointment, dismissal, and remuneration of judges need to be insulated from political interference. “Politicians are interested in judicial appointments because they know these judges will decide whether they stay in office or not. The first step towards reform is to remove the influence,” Oshoma further stated.
Oshoma stressed the need for a complete overhaul of how pre- and post-election disputes are handled. “We need to remove politics from the judiciary’s involvement in election disputes. As long as judges have a say in who occupies public office, we will continue to see these unnecessary interferences,” he added.
