Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana has charged the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to as a matter of urgency, secure the integrity of the judiciary by identifying and exposing corrupt judges and lawyers.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria expressed fears that the corruption in the judiciary had become so alarming that “these days, no matter how bad your case may be, its outcome is determined by the size of your pocket”.

He spoke as a guest speaker at the opening of the Law Week of the Enugu Branch of the NBA with the theme “Corruption and the Justice Sector: Implications for the Rule of Law and Democracy”.

Falana said invading the homes of criminal suspects at night was completely out of order “whatever the offences may be”.

According to him, the situation was becoming worrisome especially when the houses of senior military, police and officers of other law enforcement agencies accused of corruption have not been so invaded.

He canvassed that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami should be vicariously held liable for the consequences of such raids having accepted that he was the one that authorised the raids on the homes of judges by operatives of the State Security Services (SSS).

Falana however blamed the “ongoing embarrassment of our judges” on some senior lawyers who he accused of refusing to do the needful by exposing and shaming the few judges that are bent on dragging the integrity of the judiciary in the mud, insisting “there is no corrupt judge that is not known to the lawyers”.

While also not excusing the NBA leadership from the corruption spree, Falana who hinted that he would soon withdraw his membership of the association, said the national election of the association had become even more expensive than a state gubernatorial election where candidates spend as much as N700 million to run for the presidency.

He also attributed some of the conflicting judgements coming from Federal High Courts especially in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt to the corrupt activities that have enveloped the judiciary, lamenting that the situation might degenerate if nothing was urgently done.