Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola says public opinion, no matter how serious or weighty it might be, cannot override or supersede the country’s constitution.
Mr Ariwoola said this on Wednesday in Abuja while swearing in another batch of 23 judges for the Federal High Court.
He charged the judges to always apply constitutional provisions in deciding cases that may be assigned to them.
He said several vitriolic attacks are regularly heaped on the judiciary. However, it is crystal clear that public opinion, no matter how serious or weighty it might be, cannot override or supersede the country’s constitution that judges apply in deciding each case.
“Like I always say, even though judicial officers are not spirits or superhumans, so many impossible things are expected of them by society,” Mr Ariwoola said.
He warned that 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.
“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.
“We are all humans, no doubt, but you display the humanism in you by doing those extraordinary things that people would ordinarily conclude you cannot do.
“That is what separates those with integrity and passion for success from those with a low pedigree and a dysfunctional moral compass,” the CJN said.
He said appointments to the bench were not an appointment to wealth, vainglory, dishonest disposition, or an ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances.
“The searchlight of the National Judicial Council beams brightly on all judicial officers across the country. The NJC should never, either by omission or commission, be mistaken for a toothless bulldog.
“It can bark fiercely and, as well, bite deeply and aggressively, too,” he said.
He said the remoteness of their locations of adjudication can never blur NJC’s sight of them.
“The entire letters and words of the oath you have just taken must reside in a prime place in your heart and be generously applied in your adjudications,” Mr Ariwoola said.
He admonished them to be impartial and fair to all and to apply justice in all their undertakings.