The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, on Tuesday, swore in 22 new Judges of the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
The CJN, who performed the ceremony at the Supreme Court, urged the newly appointed judges to shun all forms of corruption and refrain from anything that could bring the judiciary to disrepute.
He warned that the National Judicial Council, NJC, would not hesitate to wield the big stick against any of them found wanting in the discharge of their judicial functions.
“Though judicial officers are not spirits or superhuman beings, yet so much impossible things are expected from them by the society they live in.
“I rejoice with you on this very important and strategic appointment, but at the same time, I sympathize with you for the landmines that are likely to lay your ways in the course of your adjudication, especially if your conscience doesn’t control your conduct.
“The bench is neither for the prosaic, the greedy not those with questionable character who can easily fall for a plate of porridge offered by desperate litigants.
“You must, at all times, rise above temptations and trials that might obstruct or even halt your rise to the pinnacle of your career.
“We are all humans, no doubt, but you display the humanism in you by doing those extraordinary things that people would ordinarily conclude that you cannot do.
“That is what separates those with integrity and passion for success from those with low pedigree and dysfunctional moral compass.
“You have just entered into a lifetime covenant with the Almighty God and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Henceforth, whatever you do rightly will be counted, and accordingly, recorded in your favour.
“Similarly, whatever wrongdoing that emanates from Amy form of indiscretion and abuse of office, will, in like manner, be used to conscientize, chastise and thoroughly sanitize the same conscience that you may have refused to listen to.
“Appointment to the bench is not an appointment to wealth, vainglory, dishonest disposition or ostentatious lifestyle through corrupt acquaintances.
“The searchlight of the National Judicial Council beams brightly on all judicial officers across the country. Our radar is sophisticated enough to detect every form of corruption and wrongdoing.
“The remoteness of your location of adjudication can never blur our sight on you. We have very powerful lens to capture and document your conduct; so be careful and take heed, or else, you may end up regretting ever being appointed a judicial officer.
“The times that we are in, are quite perilous, so we need judicial officers who are calculative, honest, objective, dispassionate and humble. This, your appointment to the bench at this time of our national history are not by accident but by divine ordination”, the CJN added.