“The Process Is A Violation Of NJC Appointment Guidelines”, Access To Justice Writes CJN Over Controversial Selection Process Conducted By Abia State JSC

*Says Process Governed By Secrecy And Marred By Corruption, Alleges Fraud
*Demands Cancellation and Investigation

A Nonprofit NGO, Access to Justice has written to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Hon. Justice Ariwoola JSC over the controversies surrounding the judicial selection process conducted by the Abia State JSC, stating that the process was not conducted in accordance to established guidelines whilst alleging fraud and corruption.

In a letter dated October 4th, 2022, sighted by TheNigeriaLawyer, addressed to the CJN and signed by Joseph Otteh, the Convener of Access to Justice, noted that the letter was a petition to the NJC to decline the consideration of the list of recommended candidates for judicial appointments submitted to it by Abia State JSC on the grounds that it violated the 2014 Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules of Appointments of Judicial Officers of Superior Courts of Records in Nigeria.

In providing background information to the incident at hand, Access to Justice recalled its petition in 2021 to the NJC to cancel the selection process of judicial appointments conducted by the Abia state JSC, establishing that the process was marred by corruption and bribery, citing the incident where a Chief Magistrate had slumped and died after discovering she was not in the list of nomination despite borrowing money and paying bribe for that purpose. It noted that this call was headed and that led to the cancellation of the 2021 process and the subsequent commencement of the current selection process.

It went on to note that the process started on a bad note, stating that shortlisting was carried out without any test, examination or interviews of interested applicants. Nevertheless, a list of shortlisted candidates was sent to the NBA Abia State branches for review, however in reaction to this, the group noted thus: “From information available to Access of Justice, the list submitted to the NJC for its consideration is different from that circulated to the NBA Abia branches by the Abia State JSC.”

It also noted thus: “Access to Justice has been NJC by the Abia State JSC in 2022 was not, as required by the NJC Judicial Appointments Guidelines, sent first to serving and past judges of the Abia State High Court.

In fact, there is reportedly, considerable secrecy surrounding the list submitted to the NJC , and Access to Justice has been informed that some members of the Abia State JSC are not aware of this new list submitted to the NJC.” The group established that it was a condition requirement as provided for in Rule 3(5) of the NJC Judicial Appointments Guidelines that the provisional list be placed before the JSC for approval, and this was not done in the instant case, neither was the new list sent to serving and past judges of the Abia State High Court as well as the NBA as required by the Guidelines.

In reaction to this discrepancies, the Access to Justice group stated it begs to ask the question, what is the motive or purpose surrounding this controversies. “Discrepancies in the lists submitted by the NJC and that scrutinized by the relevant institutions/organizations also raise serious concerns, not just over procedure but also over motive or purpose, amplified, in this context, by the peculiar circumstances leading to the cancellation of the previous recruitment exercise of the Abia State JSC in 2021… This fosters the impression that the process was stage-managed using deceptive tactics, and contrived in such a way that it should lead to pre-determined outcomes.”

According to Access to Justice, if it should be the case that the Abia State JSC doctored a new list after circulating a specific list to those who reviewed it, it would on its face constitute a form of fraud, for which its perpetrators ought to be held accountable. Furthermore, the group noted thus: “if the NJC does not strongly rebuke efforts to compromise the integrity of the judicial appointments’ procedure established in the NJC’s Judicial Appointment Guidelines, it will miss the chance to deter future attempts to manipulate the judicial recruitment process, and the opportunity to send a strong message to the JSCs not to do so.”

It also went to allege that that the new list in question included persons who have falsified their ages, as well as those who have been implicated in financial malpractices during the time get held certain provisions which was in violation of Rule 3 (7) and 4(3) of the NJC Judicial Appointment Guidelines. In addition to this, it alleged that during the selection process, no neutral, independent or reliable assessment of the merits of candidates who indicated interest.

It noted that the Abia State JSC had failed to improve from the 2021 cancelled selection process which had been marred with corruption and allegations of bribery.

In lieu of all these, the group made the following demands that the NJC should:
1. Cancel the 2022 Judicial Selection exercise undertaken by the Abia State JSC.
2. Require that the Abia State JSC recommences the process again and underscore the importance of scrupulously adhering to the NJC’s Judicial Appointment Guidelines.
3. Investigate whether there was an attempt to mislead or deceive the NJC regarding the composition of the list of recommended candidates sent to the council, and where it finds that the list was tampered with or recomposed after the publication of the original shortlist to stakeholders for their feedback, to hold any person who facilitated the ploy accountable for misconduct.