our stand

Editor Sadiq AbdullateefDeputy Editors

Kazeem AkintundeChristian OchiamaEditorial Board

Safiya M. Adamu, Chairman Standards

Aniebo Nwamu, Director’Lara Olugbemi, Assistant Director

LEADERSHIP is a national paper symbolically embedded in the

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governance. We shall defend the interest of Nigerian people even against their rulers, and

we shall raise our pen at all times in defence of what is

right. These are the values by which we intend to be assessed.

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FounderSam Nda-Isaiah

Chairman Hajiya Ireti Kingibe

Group Managing Director Azubuike Ishiekwene

Group Executive Directors Michael Okpere

Dr Kazeem Durodoye

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Julianne Omofuma

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Aminu Abubakar Sule Zipporah D. Tanko

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LeadershipHoldings

Challenges Before Bulkachuwa

Justice Zainab Bulka-chuwa recently made history as the first fe-male president of the Court of Appeal (PCA).

At the swearing-in ceremony, the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar, charged her to pro-tect the name and image of the judiciary and urged her to resist all forms of political pressure and lead by example. The head of the appellate court, who is from Gombe State, had been acting in that capacity for over a year before her appointment was confirmed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Justice Bulkachuwa assumed duty at a time when many stakeholders have expressed worry over what they perceive as unbridled corruption in that arm of the judiciary that is the highest authority on political and electoral matters. For ex-ample, former president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Sa-lami, who was removed by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in controversial circumstances, had expressed displeasure that the judicial system, especially the Court of Appeal, was not dispensing justice in a manner expected of it.

Recently, insiders have sever-ally revealed the lack of courage

on the part of some judges who, it is alleged, are exploited by either their senior colleagues or retired senior judges who practice as consultants and are induced to fix judgements in favour of cases involving high profile and heavy fee-paying clients. These consultants, it is alleged, take money from liti-gants to pass on to judges and where this fails, intimidate them to pervert the course of justice. Much as this allegation has not been proved beyond all reasonable doubt, we must point out that since the as-sumption of office by Mukhtar as the CJN, quite a few identi-fied as bad eggs in the system have been shown the way out.

There is, however, in our opinion, still a lot of work to be

done to meticulously cleanse the proverbial Augean stable the judiciary is becoming. This, we point out, is part of the chal-lenge Bulkachuwa is faced with. She must be reminded again that her appointment came at a critical time when the judi-ciary is undergoing reforms. So, her coming on board, more than just a career move, is also a vote of confidence in her abil-ity to reposition and refocus the appellate court and make sure that confidence in the sys-tem is restored. Bulkachuwa is expected to engage assiduously ongoing measures to make the judiciary indeed the last hope of the common man. This she can do, by carrying out her as-signments with sincerity, up-rightness and always bearing her reputation in mind.

We urge her to discharge her obligations with wisdom, fair play, independence and commitment. To achieve this, Bulkachuwa must shun all forms of political pressure and carry out her duties in conso-nance with the oath of office she took. Bearing this in mind, we also stress that the urgency of the situation demands that she maintains a leadership style that will uphold the cam-paign against corruption in the judiciary.

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