A lawyer and politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, has called on the Nigerian judiciary to uphold its ethical standards and sanction erring members in order to preserve integrity within the profession.
Okonkwo made the remarks on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television, where he emphasized the need for discipline and continuous professional development within the judicial system.
He stressed that judges must undergo ongoing training to remain updated with evolving legal knowledge and standards.
“Again, there’s a need for punishment. If you do not deter any evil practice, it must repeat itself. If an abomination is allowed to last up to a year, it becomes a culture.
“We are moving into a situation where it is becoming cultural for the members of the bench to associate freely, attend parties, freely, to be so associated with the members of the world that it will be difficult for their independence and impartiality to be maintained.
“Every profession has its own peculiarities and its own ethics. The members of the bench must have to observe their own ethics, and they have to be able to punish every anti social behavior amongst them in order to deter others,” he said.
