Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has for the umpteenth time urged judicial officers to defend the independence of judiciary.

Onnoghen made the call in his address at the swearing in of Justice Sidi Bage and Justice
Paul Galinje as justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, saying the only way to protect the judiciary was for judges and justices to maintain the demand for the highest standards of integrity, fairness and justice.

Onnoghen also said “failure to defend this institution would mean failing the citizens of this nation who have placed their hope in the judiciary for fair and equitable dispensation of justice, urging them to always remain above board in the discharge of their duties.

The CJN assured the new justices that the National Judicial Council was poised more than ever before to restore confidence in the judiciary, as well as defend its independence and integrity.

He said the Council would continue to review the guidelines and practice rules “as the need arises in the time we live.”

Bage and Galinje are from Nasarawa and Taraba states.

The occasion attracted justices, judges, senior legal practitioners, as well as representatives of governments from the home states of the new justices.