The President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Monica Dongban-Memsem, has tasked those accusing judges of corruption to provide evidence that will enable relevant institutions take the necessary steps.

Justice Dongban-Memsem said: “We keep hearing of corruption among judges. Please, provide evidence. That is what we need. “Since no one has come up with evidence that we are corrupt, I know that we are not corrupt. We are doing our best.”

The Appeal Court president spoke yesterday in Abuja at a special court session marking the official commencement of the Court of Appeal’s 2025/2026 legal year.

She expressed discomfort that people criticise the Judiciary when it receives support from the Executive arm of government, arguing that it was not out of place for the government to support the court and its officials to aid its effectiveness.

The PCA faulted the practice where lawyers encourage the writing of petitions against judicial officers because they feel dissatisfied with the judgment rendered by such judges.

She called for adequate and befitting accommodation for judges, citing the recent case of a retired judge of the Delta State Judiciary, who was murder in her residence.

Justice Dongban-Memsem said although the circumstances leading to the judge’s death were not yet fully known, it was obvious she lived in an environment that was not secure.

She said: “So, even after we have left office, we are still not safe, because of the decisions that we have taken.”

The Appeal Court president urged the federal and sub-national governments to extend the provision of houses to all judges rather than limiting it to heads of courts.

“Our sacrifice to the nation is invaluable. We don’t have alternative places to go. We do not pass files to other people. We sit down, we write our judgments, we read the files, and sometimes, they are very heavy.

“So, we do not even have time to do other businesses to enable us to provide for ourselves. People should please not begrudge us if we are being supported by the government that we are serving. And their support does not change us.

“We look at the facts, and we apply the law. If we fail to do that, there are three levels of appeal. Judges can be wrong. But we do not choose to be wrong.

“We may misinterpret the facts. If you think we do it deliberately, bring up the facts. Go on an appeal. Judges should not be weighed down with answering petitions.

“Appeal when you can appeal. A judicial decision is supposed to be appealed against, not to be petitioned against,” she said.

The Appeal Court president, who noted that election-related cases consume judicial time, urged politicians to learn to resolve their disputes internally and desist from burdening the court with the problems.

She said: “We hope that the politicians will resolve their disputes internally and leave the court out of these. Endless litigations drain our scarce resources.

“We are currently in a serious debt. We, therefore, appeal to political actors: democracy cannot flourish if every electoral contest is dragged into the courtroom.

“The spirit of sportsmanship must prevail. We urge politicians to respect the will of the electorate, accept outcomes in good faith, and place the peace and progress of our nation above personal ambition,” she said.

Justice Dongban-Memsem, who announced that efforts were ongoing to appoint 11 new Justices for the court to fill existing vacancies, urged the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to impress it on the National Assembly to pass a pending Bill that seeks to increase the number of judicial officers for the Court of Appeal.

She expressed delight about the court’s performance in the last legal year, stressing that during the 2024/2025 legal year, the court received 5,225 appeals and 9,906 motions across its 20 divisions.

She added: “In the same period, we successfully determined 3,193 appeals and heard 5,623 motions. Of the appeals concluded, 2,503 were dismissed while 690 were allowed. As at 31st October 2025, the court has 31,618 appeals and 3,382 motions pending.

“When compared with the 2023/2024 legal year, a clear improvement emerges. In that year, only 2,299 appeals were determined, and the number of pending appeals stood at 41,952.

“The significant reduction in the backlog this year reflects the exceptional commitment and hard work of my brother Justices in dispensing justice judiciously and judicially,” she said.

Source; The Nation News