Lagos—A professor of constitutional law, Itsey Sagay, has given the judiciary a pass mark as an arm of government, in 2014.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos Sagay, however, said the judiciary experienced ‘’mix bag of successes and failures’’ in the judgments it delivered in some cases in 2014.

He said: “The judgments in the Adamawa and Taraba states removing usurpers in the office of the governor are highly commendable.

‘’The setting up of an Independent Panel to investigate allegations of breach of oath and ethics of office against the Nasarawa Governor by the Chief Judge of the state is noble and good.

‘’But the judgment of a court which penalise elected officials that defected to another party is not in alignment with our political culture since 1999.’’

Sagay said that judges needed to sustain the kind of judgments they delivered against usurpers of public offices, describing such judgments as ‘’ highly principle activism’’.

He added that there was a need to caution defence lawyers in corruption cases against using preliminary objections to stall trials.

‘’Principle activism on the part of our judges suggests that they put justice above everything.

‘’Senior lawyers that deploy preliminary objections too often to allow a case to linger to the extent that public fund is wasted and people lose interest in the matter should be disciplined.

‘’Judges handling corruption cases should hear preliminary objections together with the substantive issues to be able to give judgment on time from 2015,” the lawyer said.