Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Olisa Agbakoba has charged the newly confirmed Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Kudirat Kereke-Ekun, to restore the “declined” confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary.
This was contained in a statement Agbakoba posted on his X handle on Saturday.
According to him, the court system in Nigeria needs total overhauling to renew waning public trust.
He said, “The new CJN must work very hard to rebuild public trust in the judiciary, which, sadly, has declined. There has to be a complete overhaul of the operating model of the courts.”
The senior lawyer noted that the immediate job begging for attention before the CJN, is to ensure speed in the dispensation of justice. The SAN stated that this will bring back the lost trust in the legal system.
Agbakoba, therefore, added that the courts need new procedures in its operations to conform with modern standards.
“To take up to 20 years for cases to crawl up to the Supreme Court gives little confidence to anyone, not least investors.
“The current rules are a modified version of the English rules in England, just under 100 years ago,” Agbakoba said.
“Achieving a new, modern operating model is not necessarily by the appointment of a bench of new judges. But by enhancing the capacity and productivity of each judge,” he said.
For the maritime lawyer, the only CJN who created the momentum for transformation in the judiciary was the late Dahiru Musdapher. “But his tenure lasted only for six months,” he said.
Agbakoba, therefore, recommended the Musdapher’s report to the present CJN. Noting that judges must be enabled, through transformational rules of procedure, “to work 24/7”. He added that courts must never close as a claimant may file an action at midnight.
“A judge must have what is called case management powers to deal with cases expeditiously. And with the fundamental objective of speed and delivering results to court users,” Agbakoba explained.
“In much the same way a medical doctor treats patients with measurable results, the introduction of modern tools and rules of procedure will change the face of our courts,” Agbakoba noted.
Recall that Kekere-Ekun was recently appointed the Chief Justice of Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu. The appointment followed the retirement of former CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
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