Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, accused the Nigerian judiciary of corruption, claiming that many judges and lawyers have compromised their roles in delivering justice.

El-Rufai made this known while speaking at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Bwari Branch, in Abuja.

According to the former governor, the Nigerian public no longer trusts the judiciary due to regular delays in justice and decisions seen to be influenced by bias or external interests.

He also complained about the increasing use of ex parte orders in political matters, accusing some legal practitioners of manipulating the court system for political advantage.

El-Rufai argued that there is a stark disconnect between legal processes and actual justice in the country, stressing that the judiciary has become subservient to the executive arm of government.

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He called on legal practitioners to reflect critically on their roles and recommit themselves to upholding impartial justice.

“In parallel, our judiciary—meant to be the bedrock of fairness and order—is under intense scrutiny. Concerns about delayed justice, procedural inefficiencies, and in some cases, judicial compromise (to put the matter delicately), erode public confidence.

“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.

“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.

“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 stated