A Professor of Political Science at the University of Ilorin, Mojeed Olujinmi Alabi, has described as “futile” the attempt to depoliticise judicial appointments and insulate judges from political influences through the establishment of the National Judicial Council (NJC). He has, therefore, called for the reform of the Council “to allow for greater political control”.

Prof. Alabi, who made this observation while delivering the 153rd Inaugural Lecture of the University last Thursday (November 13, 2014), said, “It now seems that the futile attempt to shield the judiciary from the control of the political class has steered us into creating a monster wholly composed of the high and mighty of the Bar and the Bench, which is gradually tending to be more Catholic than the Pope in the web of political intrigues and controversies”.

In the lecture, entitled  “Politics and Law: Anatomy of the Siamese Twins”, the don lamented that “the NJC itself, as recent developments indicate, has got itself immersed in the so-called murky waters of politics, makng the hope of an apolitical judiciary forlorn,”

 Prof Alabi, who also holds a doctorate degree in Law from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, said, “Threats to the independence and integrity of the judiciary have spanned several phases of our march to constitutional democracy triggering the delusion that the independence of the judiciary requires that judicial appointments be wholly controlled by nominees of the Bar and the Bench with minimal inputs from political authorities”. He said that this led to the establishment of the NJC following the recommendations of the 1994-1995 Constitutional Conference.

The don, however submitted that “there is nothing to suggest that judges would be apolitical simply because they are self-appointed”.

Prof. Alabi, who was Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003, said, “The creation of NJC is an attempt to turn separation of powers principle on its head, adding that the doctrine, whether classical or modern conception, does not entail compartmentalization that could make any organ of government a lord unto itself.”

According to him, “Separation of powers imports checks and balances. Thus, an institution composed wholly of members of the Bar and Bench whose membership is controlled overwhelmingly by a single individual, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who also wields considerable influence in the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee and the Body of Benchers, cannot be an instrument for promotion of checks and balances in government. It can only be a monster”.

Calling for an urgent reform of the NJC to allow for greater political control, Prof. Alabi pointed out that if this was not done, “the NJC may soon find itself embroiled in self–inflicted crisis with serious consequences not only for the judiciary but for the rule of law and the entire political system”.

He, however, cautioned that a call for a reform of the NJC should not be interpreted to mean a call for manipulation of the machinery of justice to serve political ends. “At 21 years at the Bar, I cannot be seen to denigrate the Bench. But the truth is that there is clear difference between independence of judges as individuals and independence of the judiciary as institutions.”

The don insisted that “the administration of the judiciary cannot and should not remain unaccountable to the political organs, particularly the legislature, which should perform its oversight role in the appointment, finance and removal of judicial officers.”      Prof. Alabi added that once appointed, judges should remain independent in the performance of their judicial functions by security of tenure, proper funding and non-interference, political or otherwise, in the discharge of their judicial functions”.

 He stated again that independence of the judiciary does not distract from the demand for accountability from all institutions of governance.

Pointing out that Political Science and Public Law are intertwined, complex and inseparable, Prof. Alabi said, “The two disciplines are conjoined fields of study which, like any attempt at separation of Siamese twins, cannot but remain Verculean.”

He said, “The Courts, particularly when exercising constitutional jurisdictions, are politically significant institutions of governance, democratic or otherwise, and hence incapable of being insulated from the vagaries of day-to-day practical politics”, adding that the inextricable link between politics and law is never static but rather fluid, responding at different times and climes to the dominant issues and ideas of the day.

“Rather than seeking to detach the judiciary from politics or remove politics from the judiciary, we should accept the fact and seek mutual co-habitation”, he said, stressing that “this is the only way the anarchy and disorderliness of politics could be punctuated by justice, fairness and orderliness.”