CORRUPTION IN JUDICIARY: NJC sets up 10-man Ethics Committee

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has in its bid to bring sanity into Nigeria judiciary inaugurated a 10-man Judicial Ethics Committee.

The committee which is headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutugi, was set up on Monday with the mandate to review the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in the country.

Members of the committee include erstwhile Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi, President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Babatunde Adejumo.

Others include, Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), two retired Justices of the Supreme Court, as well as a former President of the NBA, Chief Okey Wali (SAN).

Read also: Executive Vs Judiciary: How ‘power show’ is crippling anti-corruption war

During the commissioning of the committee at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN ), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, mandated it to do all such things “necessary to ensure continuous high standard of judicial accountability and probity”.

The committee was also asked to ensure it conducts periodic surveys on behalf of the NJC to measure public perception of level of compliance with ethical standards by the judiciary and moreso, to “Monitor and report on laxity by judicial officers in observance of ethical standards in the performance of judicial duties”.

The NJC had earlier unveiled a new National Judicial Policy (NJP), which the CJN said would serve as a road map for efficient Justice sector reform.

By Ebere Ndukwu …

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