Avoid unmerited gifts, tempting offers - CJN cautions Judges

Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has warned judges to avoid unmerited gifts and tempting favours that could encourage them to betray their oath of office.

The CJN urged the judges to devote themselves to the oath they subscribed to and be guided by their conscience, the law and the constitution.

He made the statement on Monday, June 28, while swearing-in 18 newly appointed Justices of the Court of Appeal.

“Many high profile cases would definitely come to you on appeal; and they may likely come in the company of some juicy, irresistible temptations, but I am making it clear to you now that you must flee from such disguised danger.

“Your reputation and integrity matter much and count enormously in your rise to honour and fame in life.

“Let me point out unambiguously that in life, gifts and wealth that are not worked for, which are by extension, undeserving, are always wrapped in calamity and destruction.

“Flee from them and keep your heads high above the murky waters of corruption so that you can be conveniently counted among the very best in the Nigerian judiciary.

“You must, against all odds, conduct your affairs within the ambit of the law and the oath that has just been administered on you.

“If you were hitherto 50 per cent under public scrutiny, I can assure you now that it has risen to 100 per cent, by virtue of this elevation to the Court of Appeal.

“The tempo and rate of public assessment of your conduct and disposition will now assume astronomical rise.

“You must redouble your effort and dialogue properly with your conscience in order not to fall out of the grace of the almighty God and the Nigerian people. It takes nothing to join the crowd, but it takes a lot to stand alone with good conscience,” he said.