The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Victor Onnoghen has warned that the Judiciary is increasingly becoming under threat.
The chief Justice made his feelings known at a Thanksgiving service at The Methodist Church, Abuja.
He said, “The judiciary is under threat.”
“Judges and judicial officers, including myself, are being castigated without giving the opportunity to be heard, but God knows our heart.”
According to him, the Judicial officers are being accused of corruption without a fair hearing and urged Nigerians to petition the National Judicial Council, NJC over any act of corruption by judicial officers.
The CJN’s comment was later followed up by a statement signed by Awassan Bassey, his senior special assistant on media, where he also cautioned against individuals “dragging the name of the judiciary in the mud through unsubstantiated allegations in the mass media.”
He cited the allegations made by Uche Ekwunife, a senator who represented Anambra central in the senate, that the judiciary “robbed her of her mandate and that judicial officers in the country today are being castigated.”
He urged anybody with any grievances against the judiciary to go through the right channel to petition their allegations.
The CJN, who was accompanied by some justices of the supreme court alongside family members, also thanked God for seeing him to this stage in his career.
“I did not set out to be a judge but today, I am a judge by divine intervention. It’s the Lord’s doing, mine is to follow,” he said.
“My prayer is that God should help me and should not let me down.”
