In a statement issued by the Media Aide to the CJN, Mr. Ahurakah Isah, Justice Mohammed said only judicial officers seeking elevation to the Supreme Court were assessed on the number of judgments delivered. He said the CJN was aware that lawyers did not deliver judgments and could therefore not have assessed them based on that criterion. The CJN said there were different criteria for assessing judges and lawyers when considering appointment into the Supreme Court bench. The CJN said the procedure leading to the appointments to fill vacant seats at the Supreme Court was being followed. The statement said: ”On assumption of office as the CJN, I directed the National Judicial Council (NJC) to implement the new Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules for the Appointment of Judicial Officers of all Superior Courts of Record in Nigeria 2014; and they have strictly been observed in all appointments to all the superior courts so far made. ‘’Rule 3 (6) of the Guidelines is unambiguous because it stipulated the judicial officer’s appointment to a higher bench to be determined among other requirements of the number of judgements delivered.” The CJN further said the provision stated unequivocally thus; ‘’…and in the case of appointment from the Bar, evidence of six contested cases in the last five years; (ii) sound knowledge of law, (iii) seniority at the Bar and or the Bench, (iv) Federal Character or geographical spread and where necessary and possible, without compromising the independence of the judiciary or allowing politics to permeate or influence the appointment.” NBA had accused the leadership of the judiciary of deliberately, excluding lawyers especially senior advocates from appointment as Supreme Court justices. In a communique issued at the end of the meeting of the National Executive Committee of the NBA held in Jos, Plateau State and signed by the association’s president, Augustine Alegeh, SAN, the NBA said despite new guidelines which allowed lawyers to be appointed into the higher bench, the leadership of the judiciary was making it difficult for lawyers to be appointed.]]>