Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised alarms over the state of Nigeria’s judiciary, describing it as “deeply compromised” due to widespread corruption among judges.
In his new book, Nigeria: Past and Future, published by the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Obasanjo lamented that Nigerian courts have become “courts of corruption rather than courts of justice,” warning that justice has effectively been commodified.
He noted the rapid decline in the judiciary’s integrity, particularly in the Fourth Republic, and highlighted the dangerous consequences for national stability when justice is only available to the highest bidder.
Obasanjo cited a personal observation, recalling a northern state where a judge allegedly built six duplexes from earnings as chairman of election tribunals. He also accused INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu of undermining Nigeria’s electoral process since 2015, saying the credibility of elections has been “grossly undermined.”
