Title of Article: Judicial Independence in Nigeria: Might or Myth
Author: Prince Ebere Nwokoro, FCArb, FNILA
Abstract
An independent judiciary is a pre-requisite for the existence of any society that respects the Rule of law, and is thus valued by many democratic countries around the globe. In Nigeria, recent events have simulated the resurgent interest in the subject and this book chapter is a modest contribution to the literature in this area of scholarship. Using doctrinal analytical research methods, this paper examines the extent to which the concept of judicial independence is operationalized in Nigeria. Or put differently it attempts to find out whether judicial independence in Nigeria is might or myth. It finds that, while there are in existence certain forward-looking provisions in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and other sundry legislative framework that may enable the achievement of judicial independence; there are also some worrying features both in the law and outside the law that conspire to erode judicial independence in Nigeria. This paper argues that while it is possible that certain indentified flaws may be addressed through constitutional and procedural changes, the prospects of the evolution of judicial independence in all its fundamental aspects in Nigeria will remain a forlorn hope if the judges themselves, lawyers as auxiliaries of the judiciary and the citizenry do not play their respective parts in the epic struggle. The paper concludes that it is difficult to say, in Nigeria’s present circumstances, that judicial independence is either might or myth.