Retired Supreme Court Justice Amina Adamu Augie has warned that corruption within Nigeria’s judiciary and legal profession is turning the courts into “market stalls.”

She made the remark in Abuja while delivering a public lecture at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Nigerian Law School Class of 1986, popularly known as the Centennial Class.

Augie identified corruption, political interference, inadequate funding and delays as major challenges facing the judiciary.

“The third, which I will not dress up, is corruption. Where it exists on the Bench, at the Bar, or in the Registry, it poisons everything by turning the one place that a citizen should find impartiality into one more market stall,” she said.

She called for practitioners found guilty of misconduct to be punished regardless of their seniority or influence, noting that the actions of a few senior members stain the entire profession.

Augie cautioned against blanket condemnation of the judiciary, stressing that the majority of judges and lawyers remain honest and hardworking.

She also linked inadequate funding to weakened judicial independence, stating that a judiciary that must beg the executive for basic needs is not fully free.