A Meritorious Judge – TheNigerialawyer

Much as they are envied and unappreciated largely owing to the
misconduct of some of their reckless colleagues, two very demanding
qualities of men on the bench are discretion and sacrifice. Without
judges, anarchy portends. Yet, unlike other folks in society,
judges, ideally, are more of recluses compared to fellow citizens.
Yet, judges, no matter how discreet, may not entirely escape the
fall-out of everyday life of their spouses and offspring.

This seemed to have been the lot of the erstwhile president of
the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Zainab
Bulkachuwa, who had to withdraw following protests raised on her
possible impartiality by counsel of the petitioner, former Vice
President Atiku Abubakar. Remarkably, Justice Bulkachuwa withdrew
not because the fear of impartiality against her was sustained.
Indeed, the panel dismissed the allegation of possible political
bias on account of being married to a senator elected on the
platform of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammed Bulkachuwa.

Whichever way the ruling went, there was bound to be
controversy. Justice Bulkachuwa, therefore, had to voluntarily
withdraw so that justice would be seen to have been done. That was
meritorious. At their level, especially in these days of a tainted
judiciary, such judges do not emerge easily. And there was no way
Justice Bulkachuwa could have remained on the panel without playing
into the hands of malicious critics. On the other hand, the judge’s
withdrawal has enhanced the potential credibility of the
tribunal.

The ruling of the tribunal itself is monumental. At the
appropriate or chosen time in life, a judge must get married, a
human obligation or desire, which is neither an offence nor an
indiscretion. The danger now is that, henceforth, judges finding
themselves in Justice Bulkachuwa’s shoes will be vulnerable to such
naturally circumstantial protests. Lawyers call such citation
authority.

Yet, no judges of whatever gender could ever foresee the
involvement of spouses or offspring in undertakings capable of
raising doubts on their integrity during their career.

Was it wrong for the petitioner’s counsel to have raised the
controversial objection? Surely not. It is a standard, if
convenient, practice in litigations in any genuine democracy. Once
the matter is raised and determined as in the instant case, the
door closes against prospects of whingeing after the verdict. On
this sensitive issue, justice has been dispensed without fear or
favour. Justice Bulkachuwa has helped the situation by asserting
her discretion. After all, following the dismissal of the
allegation, she could have continued presiding over the trial of
the election petition.

There was this other angle. A matter of trust was raised and
instantly dealt with, while the judge voluntarily withdrew even
without any fault on her side. Suppose Justice Bulkachuwa stayed
on, flaunting her innocence inherent in the ruling, the Judge would
have distracted public attention on himself, away from the trial of
the election petition proper. In that situation, the election
petition trial might have been prejudiced by irresponsible
comments. We must not underestimate the importance of the election
petition.

Should the spouse of a serving judge refrain from participation
in politics? That is at some stage unrealistic. However,
ordinarily, discretion should have been better exercised. No judge
will ever taint himself or allow himself to be tainted deliberately
by political partisanship from any quarters but the same judge, as
in this case, cannot escape being eventually rightly or wrongly
faulted even if conveniently for the real or imagined conduct of
his spouse, ironically in the exercise of the spouse’s fundamental
human rights assured under Nigerian Constitution to associate or
hold or express views on and for politics.

When such a situation arises, necessary sacrifice must be made
as Justice Bulkachuwa has done for Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the overall lesson must not be lost, especially the
family of judges. Whatever company they keep, however they conduct
themselves, whatever views they hold privately or publicly do not
end with them. Innocently waiting as victims or beneficiaries are
the judges themselves as Justice Bulkachuwa would testify.

Culled from Sun, Editorial

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!