By Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA— Newly confirmed Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, yesterday accused the state governors of violating section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution by their interference in the statutory allocations to states judiciary.

The Chief Justice who was screened by the Senate for about 50 minutes said that “it is a bit frustrating at the state levels because state governments violate section 121 (3) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria by diverting statutory allocations meant for the state judiciary.

According to him: “By and large, the judiciary is independent in this country, probably here and there you may find some odd things going on, but by and large we try to do the best that we can.

“But the problem has to do with the state governments in relation to section 121 (3) of the Constitution dealing with the statutory allocations that are given to the states, which is often not transmitted to the heart of the courts in the states.

Justice Dahiru Musdapher

Sometimes the judiciary in the state find it difficult to get their due share of what has been granted them by the constitution. We are talking with governments to please comply with the constitutional provision and give the judiciary their dues.”

He then pleaded with the state governments not to interfere in the funds meant for judiciary stressing that an independent judiciary is good for the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

Justice Musdapher also said that the Judiciary will be ready to implement capital punishment on corruption offences if passed by the Senate.

Responding to questions from Senator Smart Adeyemi, PDP, Kogi West on whether capital punishment should be used to deter people from corruption in Nigeria, he told the Senate that it is the business of the Senate to make laws while the judiciary will implement.

He said: “I know that in some countries like China, capital punishment is being used as punishment for corruption. But these are issues left for the legislative authorities. It has nothing to do with the judiciary. If you legislate, we will go ahead to implement it.”

The Chief Justice also spoke on issues affecting the nation’s judiciary including the controversies that trailed the removal of President of Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, and delay in cases before the Supreme Court, appointment of judges and retirement age for Supreme Court Justices.

Commenting on Salami, he said, “It will be inappropriate for me to speak on a matter that is before the court of law.”

However, he stressed the need for review of the National Judicial Council, NJC and laws governing the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, saying that the President has the constitutional right to appoint chief justices of Nigeria.

“The rules for the appointment of judges have been with us for 10 years. It is due for amendment. We are calling on the stakeholders to sit with us and look at the amendments.

“The constitution gives the President the right to do so in the appointment of Chief Justice of Nigeria. He can appoint anybody he deems fit. But the guidelines of the NJC must be followed. The NJC should be repositioned and the law governing NJC should be reviewed for better performance.”

Speaking on delay in the adjudication of appeals at the Supreme Court, Justice Musdapher said that cases will be dispatched with urgency if the constitution is amended to reduce the number of appeals coming to the Supreme Court.

He said the Supreme Court is over burdened at the moment with too many cases before it, adding that the apex court is handling over 1500 appeal cases at present.

According to him, “In Anambra alone, there were over 200 election petitions. We have to appoint tribunals and five judges for them, if we take away all the judges in this country for election tribunals, what happens to other criminal cases before the courts?

“I think there should be amendment to the constitution to limit the number of appeals coming to the Supreme Court. Otherwise things cannot be done. We have over 1500 appeals before the Supreme Court, at the moment we are still dealing with 2000 and 2001 appeals in 2011. This is the problem.”

He concluded by declaring that he was determined to change the judiciary within 10 months of his tenure as the Chief Justice.