Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the newly-appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), spoke about “a few judges” giving the judiciary “a bad name” hours before she attended a dinner with Lagos State’s executive on Sunday.
After attending the dinner hosted in her honour by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos, Kekere-Ekun attracted criticism from Nigerians.
Among other things, the critics described Kekere-Ekun’s actions as a way of “fraternising with litigants and politicians”.
Her decision to attend the dinner also raised eyebrows, as many questioned the ethics of accepting such hospitality. The critics also stated that such actions would undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s judicial system.
Interestingly, Lagos State is currently a defendant in a suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the apex court over the state’s plans to establish a state anti-corruption agency.
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Earlier on the same day, Kekere-Ekun attended a public discourse in Lagos which had the theme, “Ethics, Morality And The Law”.
The event was held in honour of Justice Habeeb Abiru who was recently elevated as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Judiciary Has Upright People But Few Are Tarnishing Our Reputation – CJN#CTVTweets pic.twitter.com/n7K4rV1zWZ— Channels Television (@channelstv) November 11, 2024
Credit: Channels TV
While at the event, Kekere-Ekun, who was the chairperson, said that Nigeria, despite having a lot of upright, knowledgeable, hardworking and courageous judges, had a few bad ones tarnishing its reputation.
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“By and large, our judges are morally upright, courageous, knowledgeable and hardworking,” Kekere-Ekun said.
“It is just a few that have given us a bad name. The change we want to see in the society is in each and every one of us; not just the judges; not just the lawyers; not just the politicians; every single person (sic).
“If we all follow the tenets of the phase that we profess, our society will be much better. And I call on every stakeholder to join hands in making the Nigeria that we all want to see. It doesn’t lie in the hands of one person or two; one segment of the society or the other; It lies in all of us.”
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