Camaraderie between judges and politicians poses threat to democracy, says Chidi Odinkalu

• Odinkalu said true reforms must start with INEC.
• He added that politicians use procurement as a means to enrich themselves. 

Chidi Odinkalu, lawyer and human rights activist, says the growing closeness between judges and politicians undermines the credibility of Nigeria’s democratic system.

He spoke when he featured on ‘Inside Sources”, a Channels Television programme anchored by Laolu Akande on Friday.

According to Odinkalu, state governors are more focused on showering their allies with luxury vehicles than investing in vital public infrastructure, such as hospitals and schools.

The activist stated that true democratic reforms must involve a thorough overhaul of critical institutions such as the electoral commission, judiciary, and anti-corruption agencies, to ensure they are autonomous, efficient, and able to function optimally.

“The governor of Ebonyi state has just bought four-wheel drives for Catholic, young, new Catholic priests,” he said.

“So you blame the politician who is silly enough to use public money to buy four-wheel drives for anybody in this economy.

“You buy a V6 or a V8, but you also have to blame the clergy, particularly the young ones, the new intake who are accepting that kind of silliness, forgive my expression, it’s beyond idiotic and it is aggravating.

“But what is happening? They have bought four-wheel drives for senators and members of house of representatives. State governors have bought four-wheel drives for their state legislators. They are donating, in quotes, four-wheel drives to the judiciary all over the country. The governor of River state is donating four-wheel drives to traditional rulers.

“The junior defense minister, when he was governor of Zamfara state, bought Escalades for traditional rulers in Zamfara state.”

Odinkalu accused politicians of abusing the procurement system to accumulate wealth for themselves.

“We have this outbreak of acquisitiveness, an epidemic of crass acquisitiveness that is ridiculous. Why do they do all of these? It’s procurement. When they do that, they take more money into their pockets than they actually give away. It’s an excuse to acquire,” he said.

“There are no hospitals, there are no schools, there are no roads. And so we have to buy private healthcare overseas. We have to send our children to private schools overseas. We have private helipads and now we have private jets and private airstrips. We have private security also. That is the problem.”

The lawyer stressed that politicians and governors have shifted their focus from winning public support to influencing judges, using luxury gifts like SUVs to sway legal decisions in their favor, as they believe the outcome of elections is no longer determined by the people’s votes.

“This is why I have settled for INEC and the judiciary. That is where it begins; true democratic reforms must start with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),” he said.

“They have sworn in new judges of the high courts and new justices of the Appeal Court. Did you see the number of state governors who were there? The number of senior politicians who were there?

“Politicians hosting receptions for judges and the judges going because the politicians know that our votes don’t count; what counts is the votes of judges and they are deliberating courting the judges.

“This judicial walkaround on processes of legitimacy has essentially destroyed democratic legitimacy and popular legitimacy in the people as a foundation of democracy. People are wondering why we are not getting the dividends of democracy when our votes don’t matter.”

“There are institutions we cannot afford to go bad. And I count three among those. In no particular order, INEC, the judiciary, and anti-corruption agencies. And that’s why I go hard on them in my private and public intellectual life. I go hard on them because these are the sentinels on the door of the people who will inflict destitution on the country or secure the country. And if we don’t make these institutions work, it is going to be impossible to save the country.”