International Anti-Corruption Day. Ex-Nigerian Supreme Court Justice, Eso, wins anti-corruption defender award - Ahead of the 2011 International Anti-Corruption Day to be observed on 9 December, retired Nigerian Supreme Court Justice Kayode Eso has been named winner of the 2011 Civil Society Anti-Corruption Defender Award.

In a joint statement made available to PANA here Thursday, the sponsors said Justice Eso deserved the award for his “unquestionable integrity, and passion for justice and the rule of law,
and his consistent and fearless campaign for a corruption-free judiciary.”

“Justice Eso was chosen for the 2011 Civil Society Anti-Corruption Defender Award for consistently standing up against corruption as a judge, and for his leadership, courage and commitment to the cause of the vulnerable sectors of the population. He once said: ‘Woe unto corrupt judges. I am not happy to have a corrupt bench. It is a deadly thing',' they said.

The award grand jury comprises the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism; Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP); Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC); Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), and Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR),

Former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the late legal luminary and anti-corruption activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, (SAN), won the award in 2009 and 2010 awards respectively.

Pana 08/12/2011