Obambon|5 July 2018
The beauty of democratic governance all over the world is that it essentially dwells on the principles of separation of power among various organs of government and also the rule of law. The combination of these factors —separation of power and the rule of law form the bricks for building an egalitarian society.
Thus, the role of the judicial arm of government in building a just and orderly society can equally not be over-stated.
There could be no better moment for the judiciary to demonstrate its independence and impartiality than now, that the executive and legislature are at daggers drawn, and impunity of both arms ever rising to its crescendo.
Caught in between this fiasco, the judicial arm of government is doing well by striking the balance in justice dispensation —ensuring justice for the state, justice for the victim and justice for the accused. This it has done without cowering to the seemingly despotic, totalitarian and antagonistic attitude of the executive arm.
Through some landmark judgments, and most recently, a high court order on federal government to immediately release from detention, Col. Sambo Dasuki, a former national security adviser, the judiciary has proven without ambiguity, that the law is indeed a veritable instrument for social reconstruction which must be engaged without hesitation to rein in a society that is at the verge of losing its bearing.
As the feud between the executive and the legislature endures, the judicial arm has been able to keep its sanity and set the right course for justice administration. This has resulted in low incidence of miscarriage of justice and the speedy dispensation of justice. All these are indicative of a judiciary that has jealously guarded its independence and impartiality against being usurped by the executive and the legislative whores. The current judiciary, far from what it was known in the past, has gradually assumed a life of its own.
While it is also important to commend both the executive and the legislative arms of government for giving the judicial arm a space to take its own breath, more should be done by way of legislation to further strengthened and safe-guard the independence of the judiciary. The process of appointing judges should be made more concrete and institutional rather than tying it to the whims and fancies of the executive arm. In complementing the afore-stated, there is the need for increased budgetary allocation to the judicial arm of government. This is so in keeping to it as the last hope of the common man that tends for the masses who constitute the bulk of the population- its allocation ought to be commensurate.
Obambon
Is a social commentator