The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, used the opening of the 2025/2026 legal year to issue a pointed warning that the judiciary is being weakened by constant corruption accusations that lack evidence.
Her remarks placed the spotlight not on the claims themselves, but on what she described as a growing culture of attacking judges outside proper legal channels.
Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, December 8, in Abuja, she said Nigerians were increasingly bypassing the appellate process and instead resorting to petitions and public criticism.
According to her, the trend has created a hostile environment for judicial officers who, she argued, already work under difficult conditions.
“We keep hearing of allegations of corruption against judicial officers. Please provide the evidence. Evidence is what we need.
“Since no one has come up with any evidence to show that we are corrupt, then we believe we are doing our best even through the discomfort,” she said.
Her comments broadened into a wider reflection on welfare, safety and public expectations. She reminded Nigerians that judges cannot engage in business and therefore depend entirely on government support.
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“We don’t 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,” she stated.
She warned that petitions against judges were becoming a distraction, insisting that the right response to an unfavourable judgment remains an appeal.
“Go and appeal. Judges should not be weighed down with answering petitions. A judicial decision is supposed to be appealed against, not to be petitioned against,” she added.
Justice Dongban-Mensem also raised concerns over the strain electoral cases continue to place on the court, noting that the Appeal Court handled 5,225 appeals and 9,906 motions in the last legal year.
She said the court still had 31,618 pending appeals as of 31 October 2025.
“Electoral matters consume our time and energy,” she said, urging politicians to embrace sportsmanship and reduce the endless litigation that drains judicial resources.
She warned that democracy suffers when every election dispute is turned into a courtroom battle rather than resolved through political maturity.