How I Wiped Out Corruption In Lagos Judicary – Osinbajo

Osinbajo disclosed this while speaking at the opening of a two-day national dialogue on corruption organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, at the Banquet Hall of Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Thursday.

The Vice President, who served as Lagos AG in 1999 under the administration of Bola Tinubu, admitted he was aware the Lagos State judiciary was corrupt even before he took office.

He said the first thing he did upon assumption of office was to conduct a survey with the lawyers and discovered that over 89% of them admitted that the judiciary in Lagos state was corrupt.

“We therefore, put in place a system of tests and interviews that each prospective appointee must answer satisfactorily,” he said.

He also said he had to review their pay in the state after he discovered that the take home pay of magistrates and judges was also found to be inadequate.

Osinbajo said apart from the increment in pay, the judges were also given houses for life.

“Every judge is given a house to live in and it belongs to him even after retirement. We also increased remuneration considerably,” he said.

He said within one year of the reforms, 22 magistrates were sacked while three judges were recommended for disciplinary measures to the National Judicial Council.

“Then we started to enforce rules against corruption on the bench. Within a year we removed 22 magistrates, 3 judges & changed perception.

“Before we took those steps, we had a survey that shows 89% corruption perception in Lagos judiciary. But that changed to 0% afterwards,” Mr. Osinbajo added.

The acting president however admitted that the process of recovering stolen assets is very cumbersome and may even take several years, while he called on the international community to work with the Nigerian government to ensure that the assets are returned to the country speedily.