2019: Resolve Political Cases On Merit, CJN Tells High Court Judges

As the 2019 general elections draw near, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen yesterday charged Judges to resolve all political cases brought to their court on merit, without any external influence in the delivery of the judgments.
In a message to the 34th Annual Conference of Judges of the Federal High Court, the CJN called on Judges to uphold democracy by ensuring that their judgments that are free of corruption.
Justice Onnoghen, who spoke through a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice John Inyang Okoro disclosed that with the forthcoming 2019 general elections, courts will be flooded with litigation and that Judges, as umpire must decide all the cases that will be assigned to them on merits.
While pointing out that, it is the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections, Onnoghen said the judiciary is charged with the responsibility of resolving issues arising from the elections.
He charged Judges to perform their judicial functions in line with the provisions of Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, stressing that Judges must rise up to the coming challenges by cleaning up their houses and dump the toga of corruption.
The CJN specifically asked the Judges to steer the nation to transparency and good governance so as to enable democracy to flourish.
He maintained that respect for the rule of law is pivotal to the survival of democracy and pleaded with Judges to carry out their judicial functions in line with the constitution.
“Let me emphasise that this Judges annual conference is a stock-taking event, especially now that the tempo of political activities will be on the increase, we, as Judges must do everything to nurture the nascent democracy by cleaning up our house and dump the toga of corruption.