The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the All Progressives Congress (APC) for celebrating the commissioning of residential quarters for judges.
According to the opposition party, the event is a “shameless, unethical and inappropriate spectacle that further erodes public confidence in the independence of the Judiciary.”
The party expressed its displeasure in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
It argued that while judges deserve decent accommodation and adequate security, these provisions must not be packaged as personal achievements of politicians or favors from the executive arm.
“They are constitutional obligations of government funded by the Nigerian taxpayer,” Abdullahi stated, adding that neither President Bola Tinubu nor FCT Minister Nyesom Wike is entitled to personal acclaim for discharging responsibilities financed from public funds.
The reaction followed a commendation from the ruling APC regarding the successful commissioning of multiple high-profile judicial infrastructure projects in the nation’s capital.
The projects included a newly completed ultra-modern Court of Appeal Complex and a 20-unit residential quarters earmarked for Court of Appeal Justices and Federal High Court Judges.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, had described the development as a major milestone marking the third anniversary of the Tinubu administration, claiming it reflected the president’s “iron-clad commitment to strengthening democratic institutions, promoting the rule of law, upholding the independence of the judiciary, and guaranteeing the dignity and welfare of judicial officers.”
Rejecting the APC’s stance, the ADC warned that awarding personal praise to the president and the minister creates a dangerous impression that the welfare of judges is subject to the whims, caprice, or benevolence of political actors.
The opposition party labelled the APC’s attempt to portray the project as an effort to strengthen judicial independence an “Orwellian irony,” emphasizing that true independence is measured by institutional autonomy, financial independence, and freedom from political pressure rather than the number of buildings commissioned by politicians.
The statement reads in full:
ADC to APC : YOU ARE SHAMELESS
-Opposition Slams Ruling Party for Celebrating Judges’s Housing, Says Action Undermines Judicial Independence.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemns in the strongest terms the APC’s celebration of the commissioning of residential quarters for judges as a shameless, unethical and inappropriate spectacle that further erodes public confidence in the independence of the Judiciary.
Let it be clearly understood: judges deserve decent accommodation, adequate security and proper welfare. However; these must not be packaged as personal achievement of government officials or as favours from politicians. They are constitutional obligations of government funded by the Nigerian taxpayer.
The issue is therefore not the construction of the quarters in itself, but the dangerous impression of the Executive arm of government presenting itself as the benefactor of another constitutionally independent arm. Neither President Bola Tinubu nor Minister Nyesom Wike is therefore entitled to personal acclaim for discharging responsibilities financed from public funds.
What the APC has done, by awarding personal acclaim to both the President and his minister for building houses for judges is to create the impression that the welfare of judges is subject to the whims and caprice of government officials or to executive benevolence.
In every constitutional democracy governed by the principle of separation of powers, the Judiciary must never be placed in a position where its welfare can be publicly portrayed as a favour granted by political actors whose actions and interests may ultimately come before the courts.
What makes this development particularly troubling is the APC’s attempt to glorify President Tinubu and Minister Wike as patrons of the Judiciary. This action alone creates the unmistakable appearance that judicial welfare is dependent on executive benevolence rather than constitutional entitlement. It sends the wrong signal to Nigerians and inevitably raises legitimate concerns about the proper boundaries between the Executive and the Judiciary.
This is particularly disturbing given the widespread perception that the President and this particular minister, Wike already wield undue influence over the judiciary. The statement by the ruling party celebrating the duo can only give further credence to this belief. Afterall, he who pays the piper dictates the tune.
It is noteworthy that the APC attempted to portray the project as part of government efforts to strengthen judicial independence. This is an Orwellian irony. Judicial independence is not achieved by the number of buildings commissioned by politicians. Rather, it is measured by institutional autonomy, financial independence, security of tenure, freedom from political pressure and the confidence of citizens that judges are accountable only to the Constitution and the law.
In a political climate where election petitions, constitutional disputes and matters involving powerful government officials are routinely determined by the courts, public officials ought to exercise the highest degree of restraint. They must not position themselves as deserving of judicial gratitude. But, characteristically, APC has chosen to convert a public project into a partisan public relations exercise, thereby undermining the very perception of judicial neutrality that every democracy must zealously protect.
The ADC therefore views this partisan fanfare as a shameless assault on the spirit of separation of powers and an affront to the constitutional ideal of an independent Judiciary. Public institutions must never be transformed into monuments of political patronage or instruments for cultivating judicial gratitude.
The Judiciary belongs to the Nigerian people not to the APC, not to President Tinubu, and certainly not to any minister of government. The independence of the courts is too important to be sacrificed on the altar of political vanity and partisan self-congratulation.
The ADC also calls on the judiciary to be wary of the ethical implications of its relationship with the government.
Already, the Nigerian Judiciary suffers a massive trust deficit. The public can only begin to trust in the courts again when judges stop putting themselves in a position that makes the people believe that they are beholden to a few individuals and not the law itself.
Signed:
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi
National Publicity Secretary
African Democratic Congress (ADC)
