Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a blistering attack on Nigeria’s electoral body and judiciary, accusing both institutions of being deeply compromised and corrupted.
In his new book titled Nigeria: Past and Future, Obasanjo lamented what he described as the steady erosion of integrity within the judiciary, warning that justice has become commodified in the country.
“The reputation of the Nigerian judiciary has steadily gone down from the four eras up till today. The rapidity of the precipitous fall, particularly in the Fourth Republic, is lamentable,” Obasanjo wrote.
He said the judiciary’s decline poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s democracy and stability. According to him, judges have become more interested in material gains than in dispensing justice.
Obasanjo recalled being shown six duplex buildings allegedly owned by a judge who, he claimed, had acquired them from money earned while chairing election tribunals. This, he said, typified the rot in the system.
The former president also took aim at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), accusing its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, of undermining elections since assuming office in 2015.
“No wonder politicians do not put much confidence in an election which the INEC of Professor Mahmood Yakubu polluted and grossly undermined to make a charade,” he wrote.
Obasanjo alleged that politicians now believe the outcomes of elections are not determined by voters but by tribunal judges, appellate courts, and the Supreme Court.
“No matter what the will of the people may be, the Chairman of INEC since after the 2015 election had made his will greater and more important than the will of the people,” he added.
He further accused the late President Muhammadu Buhari of colluding with judges during his election petitions, claiming Buhari “topped it up financially with appointments for them, no matter their age or rank.”
Obasanjo concluded that Nigeria’s judiciary and electoral system have become alarming symbols of corruption.
“After a false declaration of results, making losers winners and winners losers, the victim of the cheating is advised to go to court, which is a court of corruption rather than a court of justice,” he wrote.
