The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad on Tuesday, sworn-in the 22 new Judges of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, charging them to refrain from anything that would smear their name or bring them into disrepute.
The CJN, while swearing in the judges at the Supreme Court in Abuja, also charged them to rise above temptations and trials that might obstruct or even halt their rise to the pinnacle of their career.
He said: “The Bench is neither for the prosaic, the greedy nor those with questionable character who can easily fall for a plate of porridge offered by desperate litigants”.
According to the CJN, the newly sworn-in judges have entered a lifetime covenant with God and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that whatever they do rightly would be counted and accordingly recorded in their favour.
“Appointment to the Bench is not an appointment to wealth, vain glory, dishonest disposition or ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances,” he said.
“Our radar is sophisticated enough to detect every form of corruption and wrong doings. The remoteness of your location of adjudication can never blur our sight on you”, he told the judges.
The CJN said the letters and words of the oath they have taken must reside in a prime place of their heart and be applied generously in their adjudications, even as he urged them to be impartial, fair to all and apply justice and equity in all their undertakings.
Mr Tanko said what the country needs now are judicial officers who are calculating, honesty, objective, dispassionate and humble.