Buhari laments delay in justice delivery

From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday attacked the judiciary, saying its reputation and integrity have been negatively affected due to delays in the administration of justice.
The President made his assessment of the third arm of government in his keynote address at the opening of the ongoing All Nigeria Judges’ conference, organised the National Judicial Institute (NJI) Abuja.

Buhari noted that as an institution dedicated to the pro- motion and protection of human rights that the judiciary must go the extra mile to sanitize itself and improve its capacity to act independently, courageously and timeously.
“Further on point of negative perception, there is both local and international dissatisfaction with the long de- lays in the trial process. Delays in the trial process have damaged the international reputation of the Nigerian judiciary, even among its international peers”, Buhari observed.
“Unfortunately, our justice system currently has a reputation for delays, usually occasioned by a combination of endless adjournments, incessant interlocutory applications and overwhelming caseloads”.
This situation is a huge disincentive for businesses. It is not surprising therefore that Nigeria ranks near the bot- tom on the ease of doing business index. We are currently ranked 143 out of 189 countries by the World Bank Group’s Enforcing Contracts Indicator”, Buhari said.
The World Bank says, “it takes about 510 days on average to enforce a contract at the level of a court of first instance in Nigeria. In Singapore, the top ranked country on the index, it takes 150 days on average to enforce a similar contract.
“The ability to enforce contractual obligations and re- solve disputes is an essential consideration for intending investors, both local and foreign, in deciding where to put their money,” Buhari said.
Earlier, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, expressed dismay that the judiciary is underfunded.
“It is a source of great concern that in a country where an arm of government is appropriated with less than one per cent of the national budget, it is difficult to refer to our judiciary as being truly independent.
“The Constitution prescribes the institutional independence of the judiciary under Section 6 of its provisions. Sections 121 (3) and 162 (9) further guarantee fiscal independence for the judiciary, a fact now acknowledged by the other arms of Government with recent resolutions by the Federal and some state governments to pay the judiciary its outstanding and future budgetary allocations as and when due.
“However, under the circumstances, the state judiciaries continue to encounter a further burden of facing difficulties in accessing these paltry funds from their executives in order to function.
Represented by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), the President recalled that the issue of delayed trials is so high in cases involving the affluent.
“In the past few years, this has become especially so for high profile cases of corruption, especially where they involve serving or former political office holders. As my Lords are undoubtedly aware, corruption transfers from public coffers to private pockets, resources required to deliver social and economic justice.”
President Buhari therefore, called for the streamlining of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, arguing that it should restrict itself to constitutional issues.
“Our Supreme Court remains one of the busiest in the Commonwealth if not the world. This is obviously due to the leeway given to almost every case filed at any level of the court system from any part of the country to rise on appeal to the Supreme Court.
“In my view, we need to streamline the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to focus on key constitutional issues, novel questions of law and current areas of its original jurisdiction.
“The grounds for granting leave to appeal to the Supreme Court should also be reviewed while we discourage the practice of appealing interlocutory matters to the Supreme Court while the substantive case stands suspended in the lower courts.
In her address, Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), retired Justice Rosaline Bozimo, said the the biennial conference has always been a stock-taking event when Nigerian judges converge to reflect on their activities over time, thereby providing an insight into what has been achieved. It also provides a platform to strategise on how to meet the important and critical challenges in the dispensation of justice to all.