‘Judiciary has capacity to raise its funds’

Lagos lawyer and partner, Muiz Banire and Co, Kunle Adegoke has said the judiciary has the capacity to generate revenue instead of waiting for handouts from the executive arm of government.

Adegoke, popular known as K-rad by his admirers said, contrary to opinions, there are lots of money to be made in the judiciary that people are not looking at.

“Being a lawyer, I did a law reform single-handedly. It took me about a year and half because all that time I was doing petition all over Nigeria, from Lokoja to Adamawa to Kaduna everywhere.

“I looked at every law one by one, from the beginning to the end. In the course of doing it, I discovered that what is more relevant about our law is this payment of services,” the lawyer, who is aspiring to be the governor of Osun state explained.

According to him, there are cases that go to the customary courts in Osun with the kind of punishment that the court can use to make money.

He pointed out that registering marriages previously conducted and those being conducted every weekend by both Muslim and Christian clerics in the courts could raise funds for the system.

He also condemned the way and manner attorneys general relate with their principals in relation to their jobs as chief law officers.

His words: “We get it wrong the way we run our government. The governor will appoint an attorney general and believe that the attorney general should only be loyal to him and not to the constitution. It is a terrible orientation.

“I want my attorney general to tell us where we cannot legally trend and he shouldn’t see himself as superior to the judges. The day you interfere in the judicial system, you kill your economy. No genuine investor will have interest in your economy. Only crooks will be interested because they know that the same way you bribe your judiciary, they too can.

“Before there could be rule of law, there must be separation of powers. If the government is wrong, let the court deliver judgment against it, but the courts must understand the concept of public policy.

If they do, they will know how to preserve the interest of the government as well because something that will protect the interest of the majority of the people in the society would become a concept that the judiciary will identify with, it may affect some minority interest, but if it would serve the interest of the larger majority, the utilitarian value for the larger majority will be respected.”