Justice delayed...

We have to accept a fact before our very eyes. Nigeria's institutions have been characterised by decades of decay. Nowhere else is this more evident than in the judiciary.

Yesterday, a judge sitting in Abeokuta passed judgement on whether the serving governor, Gbenga Daniel was legitimately voted into office in the April 2007 elections.

The result of the tribunal is a moot point. What is important is the fact that this judgement came on August 27, 2009, two years and four months after the man had been sworn in and resumed office!

This will not be the first time this is happening. We have seen serving governor's kicked out of office after they had resumed office and started programmes that are meant to serve the people. In Edo state, Mr. Osunbor was removed in March 2008, a year after he had been sworn in and resumed office.

In Anambra, Chris Ngige governed illegally for three years. Hell, even our president was hamstrung for the better part of two years while the judiciary decided on what to do about his own flawed elections. And those are just three examples, there are a lot more. As we speak, there is an election challenge still pending in Osun state.

The snail's pace of our judiciary is not restricted only to the political sphere. Our prisons and detention centres are full of people who have been thrown in, oft-times without charge, but even when they are charged they are remanded in custody ad infinitum while the judges adjourn their cases endlessly.

A story just came up about some unfortunate geezer who died and was left in a mortuary for eight years because his children went to court to settle a land dispute, and of course, the case was adjourned forever. The Apo Six have been denied justice due to legal delays. The accused are walking around scot free, they have neither been cleared nor found guilty, and had they been cleared, someone else would have taken their place as the victims did not commit suicide.

In another, normal country, there is no way such a travesty would have occurred because the law knowing the urgent nature of certain cases would act swiftly. No person should ever be sworn into office without any doubts as to his legitimacy, same way that no potentially innocent person should be left languishing in jail as a result of endless adjournments.

It is imperative for our democracy (whatever brand it is that we practice) to survive, that all election disputes are settled quickly, and on time before anyone is sworn in. Or else it is the people that will suffer from the endless upheavals associated with constant, and disruptive change. In the case of Edo, Anambra, Ogun, Osun, even the entire country, the delayed justice is justice that has been denied us.