By CHIOMA GABRIEL
THE panel set up by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, to probe allegations of corruption in the judiciary has been inundated with petitions and complaints with the panel now sorting such petitions.

A source close to the panel said: “We have been receiving memos and petitions from politicians, civil society groups and concerned individuals.

“There are also petitions from non-governmental organisations. The panel is still considering them to separate the substance from the chaff and the committee will meet later this month.

“Before or after the meeting, it will invite petitioners and those whose presence is required to appear before it. It was gathered that former governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni whose petition to the National Judicial Council, NJC, party triggered the NBA in question is preparing to send a petition to the panel.

NBA President Joseph Bodunrin Daudu (SAN) say the legal profession is still in a position to address the problems affecting its institutions.

Speaking on the inauguration of the NBA probe panel, Joseph Daudu, SAN,  said “we have reached this unenviable point in the history of the legal profession in Nigeria where we do not wish to be.. This affliction is as a result of the refusal or omission to maintain those strict standards usually required by the legal profession.

“The Bar and the Bench usually require, at entry points, an oath being subscribed to, pledging that the person concerned ‘will not allow his personal interest to influence his official conduct or official decisions’ and most importantly ‘to do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will; there are other constituents of the judicial oath but what is of importance is the mind state of every person in the legal profession. It must be fair, honest and above all truthful.

“These are the attributes that the public associates us with and that is why they entrust their disputes into our hands for adjudication and/or resolution.

This trust is a sacred one endorsed by the Almighty. Consequently, when this responsibility and trust are breached on account of unfathomable reasons, the very foundation of the society is breached and the consequence is anarchy. We may not have reached the stage of anarchy and confusion yet but events at hand point inexorably to that direction.”

The NBA president identified the Justice Salami/Katsina-Alu face-off as  just a tip of the iceberg in the problems confronting the judiciary.