A SCANDAL over alleged attempts by senior lawyers to bribe the judges of the Kano State National and State Election Petition Tribunal caused a stir over the past week.

The Chairperson of Panel 2, Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Flora Ngozi Azinge, alleged in open court that money had been “flying around”, and that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who had a case in her court had made an attempt to bribe her. Two of the five SANs with cases before her, notably Eyitayo Fatokun and Sanusi Musa, tried to get the Judge to name the culprit.

Though she claimed to have been “misquoted”, she still affirmed that lawyers had been employing devious means to compromise the Tribunal’s judges, including attempting to send them Sallah meat. She made it clear she is in Kano to dispense justice and will not be compromised.

We understand the two SANs’ motive in asking the judge to name the culprits. The allegation tended to cast a shadow of doubt on the integrity of all the lawyers, especially the SANs. In the same manner that the two SANs tried to get the Judge to expose the supposed culprit, we urge the lawyers to escalate the matter to the appropriate authorities where the Judge will be compelled to tell all she knows.

We commend her wisdom in refusing to name the culprits in open court as this would have splashed the mud and politics all over the Tribunal, distracted the public and torpedoed the constitutional objective of its assignment.

It is disheartening that since the scandal broke, no law-enforcement or anti-graft agency has shown interest in it. We call on them to wade into this matter urgently and enforce the law if indeed there were bribery attempts.

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria positioned the Judiciary to act as the final defender of our democracy by providing justice to those who deserve it. It is the final frontier for the affirmation of the mandate of the electorate.

Politicians should have faith not in their “deep pockets” but in the judiciary to give them justice, else our democracy will be atrophied. When democracy and good governance lose their meanings, constitutional rule fails. 

The people will start looking for extra-constitutional alternatives, including military intervention. That was what happened in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.

Though the Judge’s alarm bell tended to raise suspicions on the generality of lawyers with cases in her court, it however served the positive purpose of declaring herself and court off-limits to those who have turned themselves into merchants who buy and sell electoral justice to the highest bidders. 

It has shamed the enemies of our democracy and raised expectations that justice will be served, at least in that court.