Executive Interference and Judicial Independence in Rivers State, 2012-2022

The continuous interference of the executive arm of government and politicians in the process of judicial appointment has become an issue of concern both at the federal and state levels, as it is becoming a subtle means of intimidating, controlling and directing the judiciary. The judiciary’s function in a democratic society is to adjudicate between members of the society and the state and between members of the society themselves. While the legislature designs the legal framework by which society lives and the executive is responsible for the administration of society. All this various function must be carried cut in accordance with the rule of law, and an independent and efficient judiciary is the pillar of the rule of law. The relationship between the arms of government in a democratic state should be complementary, with no one arm being “supreme” or dominating the other. Rather the will of the people should be expressed through democratic process.