11 hours ago
2
A Supreme Court Justice, Emmanuel Agim, has said that judges of the apex court do not belong to secret cults.
Justice Agim made this declaration on Friday at the Legacy Dialogue 2.0 organized by the Johnny Again SAN (JASAN) Foundation in Abuja, declaring that integrity and godly conscience remain the bedrock of the judiciary.
DAILY POST reports that the theme of the event is “Institutionalization of Mentorship in the Legal Profession: A Strategic Blueprint for Professional Development.”
Justice Agim, in a moving reflection on the state of ethics in the legal profession, stated that he finds it absurd when people accuse judges of belonging to cults.
The jurist lamented what he described as the erosion of character and professional integrity in today’s legal practice.
“I have a conscience. Otherwise, I should not be going to Holy Trinity Parish or even praying if I don’t have a conscience. God is my protection, my fortress and my refuge. You cannot be evil and expect God to be all of that to you. But whenever I say this, a friend of mine would say, ‘I thought they said you (justices) all belong to cults.’ It is not so. We are ordinary human beings.
“When I was a lawyer, we had cases already settled by law and you knew what your opposing counsel would say. But today, people go to court to win, not to get justice.
“Poor readership, poor knowledge of law – that’s our problem today. Some lawyers hold judgments in their hands but don’t read them. They go on television to spew ignorance so loudly and with audacity. It is a shame”, he declared.
Justice Agim, who disclosed he had delivered over 600 judgments, said it was impossible to understand the reasoning of a judge without studying the judgment itself.
‘We’re not cultists’ – Supreme Court Justice defends colleagues
