Former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Edo State, Henry Idahagbon has recommended a review of the process of appointing judges in the country to strengthen the judicial sector.
In an interview on Monday, Idahagbon, now the Federal Commissioner representing Edo, Ekiti and Ondo States at the Federal Civil Service Commission, said that a country gets the judiciary that it deserves, adding that the judges and those that make up the nation’s judiciary were Nigerians and not imported.
He contended that the judiciary could not be more developed than the state of development of the country.
According to him, ‘’a country gets the kind of judiciary it deserves. The judges and those that make up the judiciary are Nigerians, they are not imported.
‘’The judiciary cannot be more developed than the state of development of the country. So, our judicial involvement is commensurate with our political involvement.
‘’But kudos must be given to President, Bola Tinubu, because he has given a lot to enhance judicial independence in Nigeria.
‘’Now, judiciary gets its allocation directly, not interfered with by governors and by the president at the national level.
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“So, with direct allocation to the judiciary, they get financial independence,’’ Idahagbon said.
The federal commissioner noted that the reforms and judicial independence going on in the judicial sector could be seen in the appointment of judges.
He explained that 38 judges were to be appointed into the Federal High Courts in Abuja, adding that after their particulars were published many of them were disqualified.
Idahagbon, who also spoke on deciding election cases before inauguration of winners, said that the present system was also a symptom and reflection of the state of development of the elections.
‘’To me, it is neither here nor there, because we are seeing people sworn in, and the election petition removes them from office.
‘’Osunbor was kicked out of office as Governor of Edo by an election petition, so, it is very well possible, if you have a good case and you can prove that the process for losing the election is not in accordance with the electoral laws, you can overturn whoever has been declared the winner.
‘’So, whether or not the person is sworn in, for me, it is neither here nor there,’’ he said.
He,however, said that though the process of deciding electoral cases was slow in the country, it was so largely because everything was still being done manually.
