Appointment Of Judges And The Need For Openness In The Process

By Ibrahim Lawal

The NBA through its Judiciary Committee issued a public notice dated the 3rd day of February, 2022 under the headline, RE-APPOINTMENT OF FIFTEEN ADDITIONAL JUDGES FOR THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT BENCH: EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST signed by Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN, FCIArb pursuant to a request received from the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court requesting nominations of suitable candidates for appointment to the Federal High Court Bench from the following states: Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Kaduna, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara States.

The NBA through that notice published 164 names of lawyers who have expressed interest in being appointed as Judges to fill the vacancies.

It is gratifying to note that the NBA for the first time is laying bare the identities of legal practitioners aspiring to be on the bench. This singular act is worthy of commendation as the era of appointment through the back door will be a thing of the past.

It also afford lawyers and members of the public an opportunity to have a say about the conduct, learning and professional competence of the would be Judges.

It is also expected that the entire Bar should see this move as a wake-up up call to save the Bench from being occupied by doubtful characters and we can only achieve this if we are ready to be frank and sincere in the evaluation of our colleagues that have put themselves forward to be Judges.

This particular practice should also be extended to the Judiciary across the States of the Federation.

The practice in the past was to send the names of intending Judges to the Bar Executives for their input forgetting the fact that some aspirants practiced outside the State of their appointments, which made it practically impossible for local branch to give a fair assessment of their persons.

If however, such decision is extended to the Judiciary Committee of the Bar, it will give a wider opportunity for lawyers across the country to have a say on the integrity of those aspiring to be in office.

It is very important that those who are saddled with the responsibility of appointment of Judges take into account the recommendations of the Bar on the candidates before them.

We have witnessed in the past where those with unfavourable recommendations from the Bar still get appointed, thereby making the efforts a sheer waste of time.

It is therefore seriously advocated that both the NJC and the Bar should collaborate to ensure that only fit and proper persons with requisite experiences are elevated to the Bench in order to ensure that the wheel of administration of justice is not grounded to a halt.

Ibrahim Lawal is a legal practitioner based in Ibadan.