Corruption and Bias Among Judges in Nigeria as Recorded in 2018 and 2019: A Dash of Hope of the Common Man

Abstract

The judicial officers all over the world are expected to eschew bias and corruption in the discharge of their duties. This presupposes that a Judge should not manifest animosity, partiality, or hatred or favouritism or demand or accept any form of gratifications in any judicial proceedings. The primary objectives of this paper will therefore be to identify challenges posed by bias and corruption in the administration of justice in Nigeria and make recommendations towards addressing the identified challenges. This paper will approach the Issues of bias and corruption in judicial proceedings in Nigerian by reference to Internet sources, Newspaper publications, law text books and law reports. The findings in this paper are that the Nigerian Judicial officers, in spite of long legal trainings, seminars and workshops organized for them, in spite of taking oaths of office, are still caught up in the web of bias and corruption in the rulings and judgments they deliver. The findings in this paper, amongst others, is that despite the outcry and criticisms of bias and corruption levelled against the bench, the Nigeria Government and other stake holders have not done enough to checkmate  the ugly trend of corruption among judicial officers..

Keywords: corruption, bias, fair hearing, judicial proceeding, Natural justice

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/82-02