Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has urged the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to prioritise enforcement of court judgments to bridge the gap between justice delivery and implementation.
Delivering his goodwill message at the inaugural Nigerian Ombudsman Annual Conference organised by the PCC in Abuja on Thursday, Soyinka decried delays in implementing court judgments, warning that victims sometimes died without benefiting from decisions secured through years of legal battles.
Addressing the conference theme: ‘System Building and Compliance: A Key Factor to Good Governance’, Soyinka stated: “Why is it that we cannot guarantee the implementation of the declaration of a judgment between the plaintiff, between the judgment itself, between the judges, the structure of justice and the victim?.”
He wondered why court decisions were ignored by government agencies in spite of being delivered publicly by competent courts.
“Why is it that people we know have actually died without seeing the fruits of their endeavours for justice?” he asked.
Soyinka cited cases where citizens waited years for government agencies to comply with court orders, including directives to return confiscated passports.
He described such delays as “medicine after death” and challenged the PCC to make closing the enforcement gap a primary responsibility.
The Nobel Laureate said that addressing the problem would help restore public confidence in Nigeria’s justice system.
“If you can solve that for me, believe me, I will die happy,” he said.
Responding, the Emir of Lafia and Chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, Sidi Bage Muhammad I, attributed the problem to indiscipline and poor leadership.
The retired Supreme Court Justice said that enforcement rules already existed, but public officials should not require repeated reminders to obey court orders.
He described those in authority as the “real culprits who would not respect court orders and decisions of court”.
Bage said that leaders should set an example by complying with judicial decisions if they expected ordinary citizens to do the same.
“You do not need, after a pronouncement is made by court, to be reminded again that you are to comply with the decision of our courts,” he said.
GIK/APA