Justice Ishaq Bello was inaugurated on March 31 as the Acting Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). His appointment is to be confirmed by the Senate. Justice Bello is the court’s fourth Chief Judge. Eric Ikhilae lists the tasks before him
For the first time in its 33-year history, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja held a valedictory court session on March 31, in honour of its retiring Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Bukar.
Justice Bukar assumed office in 2013 and retired on March 31, 2015, on attaining the mandatory retirement age of 65 years. Before now, two Chief Judges had left the court, but without being accorded such honour.
They are Justices Dahiru Saleh (1984-2002) and Lawal Gummi (2002-2013). Justice Gummi, who retired from the court on May 13, 2013 and became the Emir of his community, Gummi, the next day, left the court in a controversial manner.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) in July 2013, found Gummi guilty of gross misconduct after investigating some petitions against him. The NJC found among others, that Gummi, now the Emir of Gummi in Zamfara State, interfered with the execution of a judgment delivered by another judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Jude Okeke.
The NJC, however, refrained from recommending punitive measures against him on the ground that he had retired in May, some months before its verdict was ready. But on March 17 this year, Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja decided the case with which Gummi sought to restrain the NJC from acting on the petitions against him.
Justice Kafarati, in his judgment in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/365/13, held that the investigation conducted by the NJC after Justice Gummi voluntarily retired as a judicial officer, was null and void.
Justice Kaafarati upheld Gummi’s argument that the NJC was without powers to conduct such investigation when it did because, two suits -FHC/ABJ/CJ/27/13 and FCT/HC/CV/2558/13 – were pending before the Federal High Court and High Court of the FCT on the same issues raised in the petitions on which the NJC acted. The NJC has vowed to appeal the decision.
This past experience of the court no doubt, informed the tone of the speech by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, while swearing in the court’s new helmsman, Justice Ishaq Bello at a brief ceremony held at the Supreme Court on March 31.
The CJN particularly cautioned Justice Bello to be cautious and remain guided by his conscience and the oath of office to which he subscribed.
Justice Bello is generally regarded as a brilliant judge within the Abuja judicial circle. He is highly credited as one of the forces behind the success of the Panel on Implementation of Justice Reform (PIJR), which he head as Chairman.
The body midwifed the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Bill, which though, has been passed by the National Assembly, is awaiting presidential assent. The ACJ law contains highly innovative provisions aimed at improving the administration of criminal justice in the country.
Observers contend that it is now left to see how Justice Bello will successfully combine his duties as a judicial officer (for which he has earned the admiration of many) and the tasks of an administrator. This is because, his new posting requires that he combines both roles.
This perhaps informed why Justice Mohammed urged him to learn from the court’s past, and to see the fact that only one of the court’s past Chief Judges has been honoured with a valedictory court session as a challenge to “aim to serve and retire with honour.
“As your lordship takes the oath of office and the oath of allegiance, it bears reminding that this oath is not to a man only, but a solemn appeal to God. It is therefore to God that you will be ultimately responsible. It is from this oath that your duties and responsibilities spring forth and has a binding effect
“It is an ethical undertaking to do justice as well as uphold the rule of law in our courts. As such, my lord, your is an especially, onerous position, but one which I believe you are eminently qualified and capable of excelling in,” the CJN said.
The CJN and other stakeholders want Justice Bello to positively affect critical areas in the court’s operations. They want him to work on the speed of justice administration in the court, particularly as it relates to criminal cases.
On this, the CJN counseled the new CJ to “ensure that your work remains like sterling silver that becomes more valuable with age. I therefore urge you to be proactive in seeking out ways to improve justice delivery especially, as it pertains to the case disposal rate in the FCT High Court”.
Most affected cases in this regard are corruption cases involving politically exposed individuals, whose trial had dragged for years without any meaningful progress made. There is particularly the case now popularly known as the Apo six, in which some policemen have been on trial since 2005.
The policemen, Danjuma Ibrahim, Othman Abdulsalami (at large); Nicholas Zacharia, Emmanuel Baba, Emmanuel Acheneje and Sadiq Salami are accused of killing Ifeanyi Ozo, Chinedu Meniru, Isaac Ekene, Paulinus Ogbonna, Anthony Nwokike and Tina Arebun. The deceased, aged between 21 years and 25 years, were returning from a night party in 2005 when they were allegedly killed.
Incidentally, Justice Belllo is the trial judge in that case that had suffered much delay. After about 10 years of tortuous trial, further hearing in the case is scheduled for today, during which the defence is expected to make a no-case submission.
There is also the need for the new CJ to examine the quality of personnel manning key positions in the court to avert cases of official misconduct, the latest being the fraud discovered in the court’s Probate Registry, for which two of the court’s staff are currently standing trial.
