The recent sanctions imposed on two judges by the National Judicial Council for breaches of judicial process are too insufficient to serve as a deterrent to compromised judges responsible for the rot in the judiciary, Wale Igbintade writes
The National Judicial Council (NJC) penultimate week penalised two judges in the country when it barred them from elevation to the Court of Appeal. The council, which took the decision at its 105th meeting, said the action was taken based on the judges’ breaches of judicial process.
Those sanctioned are Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court who was barred from being promoted to the appellate court for two years, and Justice Godwin Brikins-Okolosi of the Delta State High Court who got three years ban.
While Justice Ekwo was found culpable of abusing his discretionary power by wrongly granting an ex-parte order, Justice Brikins-Okolosi was penalised for failure to deliver judgement within a stipulated period after parties had filed and adopted their final written addresses.
The case that earned Justice Ekwo sanction, marked FHC/ABJ/C/626/2023, was filed by Juliet Gbaka and two others against Seplat Energy Plc and 12 others. The judge issued the controversial ex-parte order on May 11, 2023, suspending the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy Plc, its chairman and other members of the company’s board from office. About two weeks later, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reversed the order.
THISDAY
