Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the incoming president of Nigeria, has pledged to fight corruption among judges by making sure they don’t live in poverty.
He said this at the opening of the Magistrates’ Court Complex in Rivers State, which the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike erected and named for a former chief justice of the state, Justice Iche Ndu (ret.).
While praising Governor Wike for his efforts to support the state’s judiciary, Tinubu promised that his incoming administration would approach the problem of judicial corruption in a different way.
“You don’t expect your judges to live in squalor, to operate in squalor, to dispense justice in squalor. This is part of the changes that are necessary in our policy think tank,” he said.
He further stated that paying attention to the welfare of judges is crucial in the fight against corruption.
“If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt, you got to pay attention to their welfare. If you want fair dispensation of justice, you don’t want them to operate in hazardous conditions. Let’s think value for value,” Tinubu added.
Tinubu also highlighted the need for consumer credit to reduce the propensity for corruption.
He said,
“If I don’t have consumer credit and you want me to pay for the car I needed at once, N5m, N6m, driving temptation to corruption. But if you have consumer credit, then that will reduce the propensity to corruption. We don’t want our judges to play foul, to compromise justice. Not just the books, but do something. And I promise you, we are going to review all of these in our policy think tank.”
Tinubu promised to prioritize the welfare of judges and improve their working conditions to ensure fair dispensation of justice.
“I believe that by addressing some of these welfare issues, you will help to reduce corruption among the judges. That’s part of the fundamental change we are going to make. We are going to prioritize the welfare of our judges so that they can dispense justice without fear or favour,” he said.
