An online poll posted on the X account of Amnesty International Nigeria shows that 96.5% of respondents are convinced that Nigerian judges are not independent and free from external influence.
The poll, which had garnered more than 1,800 votes at the time of writing, recorded only 3.5% saying the country’s judges are independent and free.
The poll was launched a day after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, inspected luxury duplexes and residential quarters under construction for judges in Abuja’s Katampe and Asokoro districts.
More than 40 of the houses have already been completed and are designed as owner-occupier accommodations for the judges.
However, human rights defender and 2023 presidential candidate of the Africa Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, alleged that Wike built the houses to influence the judges and subvert the course of justice.
He said: “Wike never built duplexes for FCT resident doctors because he doesn’t need Nigerian doctors; his doctors are in the UK. He never built houses for teachers because his children don’t attend Nigerian schools. But he is building duplexes for judges because he needs them to subvert the course of justice.”
