President Muhammadu Buhari sees the Nigerian judiciary as a major cog in the wheel of his anti-corruption crusade.
According to him, as far his administration’s ongoing anti-corruption fight is concerned, the nation’s judiciary remains his major problem.
The President who spoke in Addis Ababa at a town hall meeting he had with Nigerians living in Ethiopia, said the fight against corruption in Nigeria could only be effectively tackled with the strong support of the judiciary.
The president’s position was communicated in statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
But he assurded the Nigerians that his administration would not give up but would rather pursue far-reaching reforms that would shape up the judiciary and bring it in tune with the aspirations of the administration as per stamping out corruption in the country.
Going on the memory lane, the President said his travails in courts up to the level of the Supreme Court in his three previous attempts at becoming the President typify the frustrations that the Nigerian judiciary represents.
He said, “On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the judiciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now.
“If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years when I wanted to be the President, I attempted three times and on the fourth attempt through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as President.
“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months I was in court. The second attempt in 2007, I was in court close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.
“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I will be President of Nigeria.”
Buhari said that with the support of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, he would work to improve the nation’s judicial administration system.
