(Scale of Justice. Photo Credit: Vanguard News)
Retiring Supreme Court Justice Ibrahim Saulawa has cautioned politicians against trying to sway judges with what he called Greek gifts.
He spoke at a valedictory court session held in his honour as he left the bench on reaching the mandatory age of 70, after 44 years in the legal profession.
He said action must be taken against the habit of politicians sending cows and rams to judges, noting that he had raised it before with the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
He asked why a politician should send a ram or cow to a Supreme Court Justice, saying it is unheard of in other countries and is demeaning and frustrating.
He called on the CJN to do something about it.
Saulawa urged judges across the country to embrace integrity, honesty and morality.
He recalled a case in which an influential man he later convicted had donated a brand new Peugeot car to him, which he flatly rejected.
The man then tried to reach him through prominent people, including an Emir and a District Head, but it failed.
He also spoke about the June 12, 1993 election crisis.
As Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal at the time, he said he moved to stop conflicting court orders which he claimed were planned by the military.
He said he flew to Kaduna on the directive of the then Court of Appeal President, Justice M. Akanbi, took control of the registry and oversaw the registering of appeals filed by the National Electoral Commission.
He said the military failed to break into the judiciary, after which General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the election on the excuse of saving the judiciary from self destruction.
He said the judiciary of that time deserved a gold medal.
The CJN, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, praised him as a man whose life has been defined by service.
She recalled a time when he was Presiding Justice of the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal and both of them firmly rejected an attempt to put a matter of personal benefit in the way of judicial duty.
Only six Senior Advocates and 13 other lawyers attended the session on Tuesday, unlike past ceremonies that drew serving and former governors and other top figures.
A representative of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Damien Dodo, SAN, said he was embarrassed by the poor turnout and blamed it on miscommunication, not on Saulawa’s personality. He said the justice served the country with granite integrity.
