'Public opinion does not determine court decisions' - CJN

nly law and the constitution determine decisions by judicial officers, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Olukayode Ariwoola said yesterday.
According to him, no matter how strong public opinion is on any issue before a judge, it does not influence judgment.

Explaining further, Justice Ariwoola said the court is always guided by the law in its adjudication of cases.

“Several vitriolic attacks are regularly heaped on the Judiciary; it is, however, crystal clear that public opinion, no matter how serious or weighty it might be, cannot override or supersede the constitution of the country, which we apply in deciding each case,” Justice Ariwoola said.

The CJN spoke in Abuja while administering the oath of office on 23 new judges of the Federal High Court (FHC).

In recent times, many social media users have put judicial officers under pressure to influence the political cases before them.

Jurists have also been exposed to attacks on their persons and threats to their family members.

Members of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, went under attacks by those who wanted to influence their decision.

A group of people installed billboards in major cities with the inscription “All eyes on the Judiciary”, an apparent attempt to intimidate them.

Some others also shared the justices’ photographs and phone numbers on the social media, asking people to continuously call them and send them messages – all in the bid to influence their judgment.

Delivering their verdict, the justices decried the many attempts to coerce them into submission.

Justice Ariwoola reminded the new judges that their appointment, though a new chapter in their existence, will now completely expose them, like everyone in public office, to daily public scrutiny.

Justice Ariwoola urged them to be committed to their oath of office and always be driven by the spirit of fairness and justice.

He said: “The entire letters and words of the oath you have just taken, must reside in a prime place of your heart and be generously applied in your adjudications.

“This is a bond that you should engrave in your heart and be well guided by it while adjudicating in all matters that come before you.

“You must be impartial, fair to all, and apply justice in all your undertakings. The times that we are in, are quite perilous, so we need judicial officers who are calculative, honest, objective and dispassionate in all ramifications.

“Thus, your appointments to the bench at this crucial period of our national history are not by accident but by divine ordination.

“Like it is often said, a clear conscience fears no accusation. He who comes to equity, as we all say, must come with clean hands. So, your Lordships must severe ties with anything that will smear your hands and bring you into disrepute in the course of your new assignment.”

Warning the judges against unethical conduct, the CJN said that the National Judicial Council (NJC) will not hesitate to wield the big stick when necessary.

He said: “Like I always say, even though judicial officers are not spirits or superhuman beings, so much impossible things are yet expected from them by the society.

“I heartily rejoice with you on this very important and sensitive appointment, but at the same time, I sincerely sympathise with you for the landmines that are already laying on your paths in the course of your adjudication, especially if your conscience is at variance with your conduct.

“The bench is neither for the indolent, the greedy nor those with dubious character, who can easily fall for a plate of porridge offered by desperate litigants.

“You must, at all times, rise above temptations and trials that might obstruct or even halt your rise to the pinnacle of your career. We are all humans, no doubt, but you display the humanism in you by doing those extraordinary things that people would ordinarily conclude that you cannot do.

“That is what separates those with integrity and passion for success from those with low pedigree and dysfunctional moral compass.

“Appointment to the bench is not an appointment to wealth, vainglory, dishonest disposition or ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances.

“The searchlight of the National Judicial Council beams brightly on all judicial officers across the country.”