Contrary to speculations and arguments in some quarters that South-South were excluded in the names recommended to President Buhari by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court, South-South is actually represented.
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NJC under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Dr. Justice I. T. Muhammad CFR, has recommended a total of 8 names to president Buhari for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The names were sent in 2 batches of 4 names each.
The first batch of four names were sent in 2019 after the NJC Meeting of 22nd and 23rd October, 2019, where it considered the list of candidates presented by its Interview Committee and South-South was represented by Hon. Justice Emmanuel A. Agim, JCA.
The names included:
i) Hon. Justice Adamu Jauro, JCA (North-East Zone)
ii) Hon. Justice Emmanuel A. Agim, JCA (South-South Zone)
iii) Hon. Justice C. Oseji, JCA (South-South Zone)
iv) Hon. Justice Helen M. Ogunwumiju, JCA (South-West Zone)
The second list was sent this August, 2020 after the 2nd Virtual Meeting of NJC which held on 11th and 12th August, 2020. The names included:
i) Justice Tijjani Abubakar (North-East Zone)
ii)Justice Mohammed L. Garba (North-West Zone)
iii)Justice Abdu Aboki (North-West Zone)
iv)Justice Mohammed M. Saulawa (North-west Zone)
From the foregoing, the total names pending before president Buhari recommended by president NJC for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court stands at eight (8) with one representative from the South South.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court currently have a total number of 12 Justices including the Hon. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, consisting of two (2) Justices from North Central, one (1) from the North East, one (1) from North West, three (3) from South East, one (1) from the South South and three (3) from the South West.
TheNigeriaLawyer recalls that Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had in a letter dated 9th of June, 2020 written President Buhari calling his attention to the fact that the number of Justices of the Supreme Court is now below the number provided by the constitution.
“However, it may interest Your Excellency to know that the number of Justices on the Supreme Court bench has been depleted to 12 contrary to Section 230 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which stipulates that the Supreme Court of Nigeria “shall consist of such number of Justices not exceeding 21 as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.”
He, therefore, urged the president to expeditiously send the names to the Senate.
“We are persuaded that Your Excellency would be furthering the cause of prison decongestion by expeditiously ratifying the names recommended by the NJC and forward same to the Senate for confirmation. In other words, the workload and the number of civil and criminal appeals pending at the Supreme Court would be significantly reduced if the four Justices are appointed without any further delay.
“While urging Your Excellency to promote the cause of justice by expeditiously ratifying the names recommended by the NJC and forward same to the Senate for confirmation please accept the assurances of our highest esteem and professional regards.”
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