A retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Ibrahim Saulawa, has called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to take action against politicians who allegedly attempt to influence judges by sending them gifts, including cows and rams.
Justice Saulawa described the practice as demeaning to the judiciary, saying politicians should not be sending livestock or other gifts to Supreme Court justices.
The retiring jurist spoke on Tuesday during a valedictory court session held in his honour at the Supreme Court in Abuja.
“Why should a politician send a ram, cow or other items to a Supreme Court Justice? It is unheard of in other countries,” Saulawa said.
“I am calling on the CJN to do something about this. I once raised the issue. It is demeaning and equally frustrating.”
Saulawa, who retired from the bench after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70, said he had personally rejected attempts to influence him through gifts during his judicial career.
He recalled a case in which an influential man attempted to give him a brand-new Peugeot vehicle before the matter was determined.
“Prior to the case, the Alhaji had donated to me a brand new Peugeot motor vehicle, which I flatly rejected,” he said.
According to him, the individual subsequently sought the intervention of prominent personalities, including the Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir Usman, and the District Head, Alhaji Balan Goggo, to persuade him to accept the gift.
He said he rejected the attempts and later convicted the individual in the case.
Saulawa urged judges across the country to maintain integrity, honesty and morality, stressing that judicial officers must protect the independence and credibility of the bench.
The retiring justice also disclosed that he deliberately avoided some social gatherings during his years on the bench in order to safeguard his judicial independence.
“But some of my learned friends are always there, even if they didn’t need to be there,” he said.
The jurist, who spent 44 years in the legal profession, also recounted his experience during the controversy surrounding the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Saulawa said he was serving as Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal at the time and took steps to prevent the judiciary from being overwhelmed by conflicting court orders allegedly orchestrated by the military government.
He recalled that while the FCT High Court issued two interim orders restraining the National Electoral Commission (NEC), then headed by Professor Humphrey Nwosu, from conducting the presidential election and announcing its results, some state high courts issued conflicting orders directing that the results be announced.
According to him, the situation created a legal crisis that required urgent intervention by the Court of Appeal.
He said that acting on the directive of the then President of the Court of Appeal, Justice M. Akanbi, he travelled from Lagos to Kaduna to take control of the appellate court’s registry.
“Appeals were filed at the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division, by the NEC. As the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal, and the only spokesperson thereof, I flew from Lagos to Kaduna and took effective control of the Registry and supervised the registering of the appeals and the issuing of the appropriate court processes to the respective parties to the appeals,” he said.
Saulawa said he subsequently briefed Justice Akanbi, who convened an emergency meeting of presiding justices to address the crisis.
He alleged that the military government attempted to infiltrate the judiciary but was resisted by him and Justice Akanbi.
According to him, the military subsequently annulled the election under the pretext of preventing the judiciary from destroying itself.
“We actually did all we could do to frustrate the military,” Saulawa said, adding that the judiciary deserved “a gold medal” for its handling of the crisis.
Meanwhile, the CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, praised Saulawa for what she described as a life defined by service and integrity.
The CJN recalled an incident from the period when Saulawa served as Presiding Justice of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal, saying both of them had resisted an attempt to place personal benefit in the path of judicial duty.
She said the incident reinforced her respect for Saulawa’s commitment to judicial integrity and demonstrated that the honour of judicial office must be protected both in court and in personal dealings.
The valedictory session was attended by six Senior Advocates of Nigeria and 13 other lawyers.
A representative of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Damien Dodo, SAN, expressed disappointment over the poor attendance, attributing it to what he described as miscommunication rather than a lack of regard for the retiring justice.
