Senior Advocate Of Nigeria (SAN) Ferdinand Orbih,  is one of the most experienced legal luminaries in the country, having put in over 37 years of practice to the profession. He is also a rights advocate and defender of the poor.

   In this interview, he spoke on the human rights situation in the country, corruption in the judiciary and other issues affecting the country’s judicial system.  WHAT is your reaction to allegations of corruption in the judiciary, especially the collection of brown envelop by the judges to pervert the course of justice? Corruption in Nigeria is not an exclusive preserve of the judiciary. There is corruption in every ,of  facet, of the Nigerian society.
     Every day, we are inundated with stories of corruption in the executive arm of government. We have been told of millions of Naira allegedly used to cut grass in the southern reaches of the Sahara desert. What is more, the money was used to cut grass in the camps of internally displaced persons at a time when the persons in the camps were on starvation diet. We have heard of award of contracts running into billions of dollars without due process. Similarly, we also have stories of corruption in the legislative arm of government. Battle against corruption.
    It is true that this question is about alleged corruption in the judiciary but we must situate the judiciary within the context of the larger Nigerian society. In other words, the judiciary in a country that is internationally reputed to be “fantastically corrupt” cannot be expected to smell like roses.
         *Chief Ferdinand Orbih, SAN No battle against corruption in the Nigerian judiciary can be successful unless it is holistically waged in the larger Nigerian society. While I acknowledge that there are some corrupt judges, it is wrong to stigmatize the entire judiciary as corrupt. Those who stigmatize the entire judiciary as corrupt are not helping matters at all. I have been in these Field  for over 37 years and for all that time, I have been in Nigeria. I am, therefore, in a position to tell you that in this country, a vast majority of our judges are hard working, disciplined and incorruptible. So when the judiciary is stigmatized as corrupt, a lot of disservice is being meted out to these courageous and honest judges who toil both night and day to dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill will. The danger in condemning the entire judiciary as corrupt lies in the fact that it erodes confidence in the system. And the destruction of confidence in the judiciary is a direct invitation to anarchy and self help. So, we should direct our efforts at getting rid of the corrupt few who are giving the system a bad name. There is a pressing need to reform the institutional framework for fighting corruption in the judiciary.
        The National Judicial Council needs total reformation and retooling to fight corruption in the judiciary. Unfortunately, people view corruption only from the prism of bribery of judges to pervert the course of justice. Like I said earlier, those involved in this form of corruption are relatively few.   The more serious form of corruption is appointing those who have very little knowledge of the law, as judges. When that is done, you pollute the system. An ignorant judge is as dangerous as the judge who takes bribes to pervert the course of justice because neither of them will deliver justice in the end. What is your take on the disobedience of court orders by government? Governments at all levels must bear in mind that in a democratic dispensation, the rule of law, as opposed to rule by force must prevail. That is the main difference between democracy and autocracy or dictatorship. One of the major pillars on which the rule of law rests, is equality before the law. The government and the governed must not only be equal before the law, they must also be manifestly and undoubtedly be seen by all, to be equal before the law. Now, when government refuses to obey court orders, it automatically places itself above the law. That is unacceptable in any democratic dispensation. Disobedience to court orders by government did not start with the President Buhari administration. It has been with us for a long time. The only difference is that the degree of disobedience varies from one administration to another. While the Goodluck administration was able to reduce incidents of disobedience of court orders to the barest minimum, the President Buhari administration has elevated disobedience of court orders to official state policy. President Buhari is the first President in the history of Nigeria to come out on national television to state that his government will disobey court orders granting bail to former National Security Adviser to the Jonathan administration, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, retd, and the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Till date, Dasuki is in prison custody despite court orders releasing him on bail. It is a shame on the government. Any time I hear the government campaigning for direct foreign investors, I am amused. The government appears oblivious to the fact that foreigners will be reluctant to invest in an economy without a strong judiciary whose rulings and orders are obeyed and respected by both the government and the governed. The investor is bound to ask himself the question, if there is a dispute between it and the government and the court rules in his favour, will the government obey the ruling of the court? Disputes are bound to arise in the course of human endeavours, especiallycommercial transactions. So it is in the interest of government to adhere to the principle of the rule of law. There is no better way to do this than to obey all court orders. What is your assessment of the human rights situation in Nigeria today? I am afraid there is very little or nothing positive to say about fundamental human rights of the citizen in Nigeria of today. I will not look at human rights purely from the legal point of view because to do so will be to miss the point. A man has to be alive and protected before we can seriously talk about the fundamental human rights enshrined in the Constitution. Kidnapping and terrorism When a majority of the citizenry lives below poverty level, when there is general insecurity in the land as a result of armed robbery, kidnapping and terrorism, then those fundamental rights lose their meaning completely. The government must address youth unemployment, hunger, mass illiteracy and protect the lives and property of the citizens. In addition, the government must adhere to the principles of rule of law. The government must respect the judiciary as an independent arm of government. When the government does the above, human rights situation in Nigeria will improve. How would you assess the country’s judicial system today? All along we have been talking about the judicial system. I want to add that the government is duty bound to respect the judiciary of this country. An independent and fearless judiciary is the very foundation of democracy. The President Buhari administration has very little or no regard for the judiciary. It demonstrated this in no small measure when about a year ago, it raided the houses of seven judges of Superior Courts of Record in the middle of the night, treating them like common criminals. That raid was a direct attack on the integrity and independence of the judiciary of this country. I must make myself very clear that I am not advocating that judges should be above the laws of the land. All I am saying is that due process was not followed in carrying out that raid. It is another shame on this administration. Subsequent events have since proved that the raid was calculated to intimidate the judiciary and cow them into submission so that they will dispense justice in accordance with the whims and caprices of the Executive arm of government. You will remember that after almost one year of zero action on part of the government, the National Judicial Council had to recall some of the affected judges to work. Incalculable harm had already been done to their hard earned reputation by the time of their recall. What of the emotional trauma that they went through during the period? Please let us respect the judiciary. When we rubbish the judiciary, we will go back to the state of nature where life was nasty, brutish and short.