To be a federal judge, one has to be backed by the presidency or a political party – FHC Judge

Justice Mabel Segun-Bello, a federal high court judge, says to be a federal judge in Nigeria, one has to either be backed by the presidency or a political party.

She spoke Saturday in Abuja at the 2024 clarity conference, themed: “The constellation; gathering of stars, by stars and for stars.”

Justice Segun-Bello, who was the Keynote Speaker at the event, said her journey to the top was not an easy ride, but with determination, she made it.

Addressing the participants, who were mostly young people, she said: “Your condition may be that you come from a poverty-stricken background. It is powerful, but you have a will to say you won’t be remain that way.

“If I tell you the story of where I come from, two things will happen to you; you will either say I am lying or you will start crying. Note that I am not a state Judge, I am a federal Judge.

“To become a federal judge, you are either backed by the presidency or helped by a political party. I had none.

“That tells you principles are universal in application. If applied, anything is possible.”

Convener of the conference, Atuzie Favour Tuzzi, said the conference was organized to show young people how to implement their ideas.

“We did the clarity conference to basically take youths from ideation to implementation. Most people struggle and feel they are not good enough because of the exposure they have had. That is, their early environment, what they saw their peers doing in school.

“This conference aims to address all that,” Tuzzi said.