El Rufai Drops Bombshell: Judiciary Corrupted — Justice Now For Sale, Only for the Wealthy! You Won’t Believe What He Revealed!
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, has accused the Nigerian judiciary of widespread corruption, saying the institution has lost the trust of the public due to biased rulings and delayed justice.
El-Rufai, a trained lawyer and alumnus of the University of London, made the remarks on Monday while speaking at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari branch, in Abuja.
He said the judiciary, which should be the last hope of the common man, is now viewed with deep suspicion by many Nigerians.
“In parallel, our judiciary, meant to be the bedrock of fairness and order, is under intense scrutiny,” he said.
“Concerns about delayed justice, procedural inefficiencies, and in some cases, judicial compromise (to put the matter delicately), erode public confidence.”
He lamented that the judiciary often appears to serve the interests of the elite, with the common man left behind.
According to him, justice is increasingly perceived as a commodity for the wealthy and politically powerful.
“The rise in forum shopping, the weaponisation of ex parte orders in political matters, and the growing perception that justice is for sale and available only to the rich and the powerful would cause the perceptive observer to conclude that what Nigerian courts do is the administration of law and not the administration of justice,” he said.
“In Nigeria, there is a seemingly unbridgeable gulf between law and justice. Not only is justice wanting, but the law that is administered seems to be according to the wishes of the executive.”
Addressing members of the legal profession, El-Rufai called for a moment of self-reflection, urging lawyers to assess the current state of the judiciary and their role in its perceived decline.
“The demand on you, as practitioners in the temple of justice, is a sober introspection as you contemplate whether indeed Justitia is blind and whether she holds the scales of justice in fine balance,” he said.
El-Rufai also took aim at the National Judicial Council (NJC), accusing it of failing in its disciplinary responsibilities.
He cited opaque judicial appointments, inconsistent rulings—particularly on electoral matters—and lenient disciplinary actions as evidence of systemic failure.
“If we must be honest, we must admit that the perception of a high level of judicial corruption is now mainstream,” he said.
“This is not helped by the opacity of judicial appointments, inconsistent rulings on electoral matters, the inexplicable delays in critical judgments, and the slap on the wrists meted to notoriously bad judges by the National Judicial Council which, I would respectfully say, has not succeeded in its mission and is now itself desperately in need of reform and restructuring.”
Reflecting on the declining public perception of judges, El-Rufai recalled a time when members of the judiciary were held in high esteem.
“Once upon a time, ordinary citizens tiptoed past the homes of judges. Not any longer. Now, judges are abused and maligned with almost reckless abandon,” he said.
“They are physically and mentally assaulted, sometimes roundly disrespected by the ordinary citizenry. How indeed are the mighty fallen.”