Date: 2012-09-16

Retiring Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb had her 'day' on Friday as she opened up on the controversies in the state judiciary which saw her initial removal from office and subsequent reinstatement on the orders of the Supreme Court.

At a valedictory court session which incidentally marked the beginning of the new legal year in the state, the retiring chief judge described her main traducers in the controversy, the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), as a big clog in the wheel of progress in the state judiciary as it is presently constituted.

The judge also used the occasion to warn her brother judges still in service to restrain from offering themselves for services outside their judicial callings as well as involving in 'busy body' activities which allow external forces influence them from their primary callings.

At the well attended event, Elelu-Habeeb raised diverse allegations against one of the prominent leaders of the JUSUN in the state arguing that based on available evidence the said officer should have been shown the way out of public service but for 'irregularities in the system'.

"I will not however read this speech to an end without making reference to a body known as JUSUN in Kwara State judiciary. This body is a big clog in the wheel of progress of Kwara State judiciary as it is presently constituted. During the period of two, three years back, the press in Kwara State constantly requested for my comments on the events then in the judiciary. Conscious of my status as a serving judicial officer, I refused to make any statement and I knew fully well that silence is golden and that no matter how long the period, truth cannot be stampeded upon, it would come out in its colour.

"The so called JUSUN of Kwara State stupidly and foolishly wrote petition against me to the National Judicial Council (NJC). The petition which I responded to with valid documents was correctly thrown out by the NJC for being frivolous, dubious and unsubstantiated.

"The problem we face in the judiciary stemmed from our doors in the judiciary. When judges learn to stick and work in accordance with the oath of office they swore to and face their work diligently and honestly, then the judiciary will be a better place.

"We can only promote the integrity of the judiciary and the doctrine of separation of powers when we respect ourselves, when we do not offer ourselves for services outside our judicial callings, when we think on first what we can do to identify ourselves on an integral ladder and stop busy bodying ourselves with functions outside our judicial work."