A lawyer and politician, Okonkwo, has called for the judiciary to strongly uphold its ethics and sanction any of its erring members to maintain sanity in the profession.

Okonkwo made this call on Wednesday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television monitored by DAILY POST.

He said judges ought to be trained, noting that it is a continuous thing for them to be updated on the knowledge that is available.

“Again, there’s a need for punishment. If you do not deter any evil practice, it must repeat itself. If an abomination is allowed to last up to a year, it becomes a culture.

“We are moving into a situation where it is becoming cultural for the members of the bench to associate freely, attend parties, freely, to be so associated with the members of the world that it will be difficult for their independence and impartiality to be maintained.

“Every profession has its own peculiarities and its own ethics. The members of the bench must have to observe their own ethics, and they have to be able to punish every anti social behavior amongst them in order to deter others,” Okonkwo said.