Lawyers and public affairs analysts have remained unrelenting in the debate concerning the controversial training of top judicial officers in London, United Kingdom reportedly bankrolled by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
For Boulevard A. Aladetoyinbo, Esq., “The AMCON Nigeria judges’ London training conference sponsorship creates some unsullied one-good-turn-deserves-another obligation scenario on Their Lordships’ part. Here solemnly comes the quiet quintessence of ‘you scratch my back, I scratch your back.’ It’s most unethical, illegal, and immoral for Nigerian court judges to have training conferences sponsored for them by potential parties (lest some significant government agency AMCON) in matters before them for pretend capacity-building, learning pretext, but in reality, primed for networking and whatnot purposes.
“The Judiciary (through National Judicial Institute) — not Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) — is the one with ethical, legal, and moral obligation to sponsor training conferences for Nigeria court judges. And even so, not in some faraway meatspace land gallivanting on taxpayers’ largesse when these stuff can be arranged in the cyberspace at almost zero financial cost.
“With all due respect, this is unconscionable, unacceptable, and unbecoming of our court judges! Sometimes one wonders long and hard what has become of the inviolate consciences of justice which these court judges are expected to bear after leaving the Bar for the Bench.”
Likewise, Nwabueze Paul Nwachukwu, Esq. said: “This is very wrong. How would Their Lordships determine cases involving AMCON and other parties? I think all the Judges that benefited from this training should either resign or recuse themselves from any AMCON cases before them.”
An Attorney, Business Executive, and HR Professional, Dele Aloko puts it this way: “The fact that an activity is organized by a government MDA does not remove the possibility of impropriety from it.
“However, in an increasingly complex and technical world, how do we ensure that judges are adequately informed about developments in fields such as technology, cybercrime, drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering, etc.? Can we leave it to the individual judges to keep themselves informed? Supposing they don’t and as a result fail to understand the evidence adduced before them in court? Don’t we also risk an injustice there?
“How do we strike an appropriate balance?”
In his article Illegality of judicial officers participating in workshops sponsored by likely parties before them, Ogbankwa Douglas Esq. posited thus: “Let us take a hypothetical scenario. Some judicial officers from all across the country attend a workshop organised by “ABC”, An institution of the Federal Government. The “ABC” pays their flight tickets, hotel accommodation, takes care of their feeding and gives payments for attending the seminar. How can we guarantee the Independence of such Judicial officers when cases that concern The ‘ABC’ comes before them or how do we preclude ex parte communications between the Judicial officers and officials of the ‘ABC’, that may compromise the fair Administration of Justice.
“Such transactions are quite untidy and leave much to be desired and it is against the extant provisions of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“This is as provided for by Article 13.5. of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ,which provides thus: “Acceptance of gifts
“A Judicial officer and members of his family shall neither ask for nor accept any gift, bequest, favour or loan on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties…”
