JUDICIAL CORRUPTION AND ITS CHALLENGES TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Corruption is a popular word in Nigeria. The word corruption can also be interchangeably used with phrases like ‘business as usual’ ‘the Nigerian way’ and much more other expressions has that become a custom, practice and way of life of Nigerians over the years. Corruption has become endemic in Nigeria such that there is no section of Nigerian society that can be said to be free of this menance. Every sector of the economy in Nigeria is tainted with corrupt practice and none is exempted. The administration of justice in Nigeria is a key sector of the Nigerian state and the judiciary stands at a vantage point in this department and where the judiciary is corrupt, the administration of justice as a sector and system and unit becomes sick and weak and this has a serious negative impact and effect in the entire economy. The judiciary as an arm of government lubricates the other two organs namely the executive and the legislature, and without a bold, independent and fearless judiciary, the country no doubt will be in doom. The judiciary interplays with other agencies and institutions in the administration of justice and these bodies also play one role or the other in either igniting judicial corruption or aiding the menance. Thus, agencies like the police, the EFCC, the immigration service and other professional organizations including the Nigerian Bar Association one way or the other contribute to the growing and increasing rate or rise in the corruption index among judicial officers in Nigeria which indeed is a challenge to effective and efficient justice delivery in Nigeria. This article aims at examining critically the issue of judicial corruption and its impact on the administration of justice in Nigeria. In addition, the objective of this paper is to find out the remote causes or judicial corruption, the categories of judicial corruption in Nigeria as well as challenges towards fighting and nipping this menace in the bud in the country. The paper also looked at how other factors outside the judiciary has indeed promoted corruption in the sector and has by that crippled administration of justice. It was found out that the corruption in the judiciary in Nigeria from available records has gone beyond proportion and is seriously hampering effective justice delivery and must be fought headlong. At the end, recommendations were made on how best to address the situation.