Tag: CJN

The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun and the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Salisu Abdullahi have advised judicial officers to desist from seeing their appointment as an opportunity for self-enrichment.

Justices Kekere-Ekun and Abdullahi said, instead, they should see their appointment as a divine call to address injustice, protect the rule of law and safeguard the people’s fundamental rights.

Both senior jurists spoke in Abuja on Monday during the opening session of the second induction course for newly appointed magistrates and judges of the lower courts.

The week-long course, being held at the NJI, has as its theme: “Repositioning the courts for better justice delivery.”

Justice Kekere-Ekun, who is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the NJI, was represented by Justice Emmanuel Agim of the Supreme Court.

The Acting CJN, who was optimistic that the appointment of the new magistrates and judges would enhance justice delivery in the country, said:  “I am also hopeful that you have come with a willingness to serve, a drive for excellence and an irrevocable commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting the image of the Nigerian Judiciary.

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“I urge you to constantly remind yourselves that you have joined this profession, not for the gains, but because of your passion for humanity, your ardour for the law and a desire to see justice and equity prevail at all times and in all situations.”

Justice Kekere-Ekun noted that, by their appointment, the new magistrates and judges were stepping into an unfamiliar terrain, where they would be expected to handle numerous cases, most of which would present certain ethical dilemmas that would require them to make sensitive and difficult decisions.

She added: “Consequently, there is no gainsaying the fact that your new offices invariably demand a good grasp and understanding of substantive and procedural law and other ethical values and considerations, all of which are crucial to the effective performance of your duties.”

Justice Abdullahi told the new appointees that, by their appointment, they have chosen to commit themselves “to a most noble course, one which invariably requires you to address injustice, protect the rule of law, promote equality before the law, and safeguard the human rights of the people of our dear country, Nigeria.

“To this end, I urge you to see your appointments not as an avenue to gratify your personal desires but rather as an opportunity to serve and to contribute your quota to the advancement of the Nigerian Judiciary.

“Further, you must avoid acts that will impugn the integrity of the Judiciary and lower it in the estimation of the public. Refuse to condone any action that may delay the timely conclusion of both civil and criminal proceedings, while paying attention to judicial values of independence, integrity and impartiality,” the NJI Administrator said.

Justice Abdullahi, a former Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), explained that the induction course is designed to acquaint the new magistrates and judges with the intricacies of adjudication and judicial proceedings.

He added that the course is meant to offer insights into the expectations that will be placed on the new appointees by litigants, court users and the general public as they discharge their functions.

“In this regard, we aim to deepen your understanding and appreciation of germane issues such as bail applications and pre-trial detention; restorative justice and non-custodial measures; principles of judgment writing; and sentencing among others.

“I therefore have no doubts that this course will be of immense benefit to you all and I encourage you to pay rapt attention and to contribute meaningfully,” Justice Abdullahi said.

The Director of the Judicial College of England and Wales, Judge Ikram Tan stressed the importance of continuous training for judges and magistrates, citing examples of the practice in his jurisdiction.

He said, that in England and Wales, it was considered misconduct when a judicial officer fails to attend training, noting that he was recently issued a query for not attending a training course.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, who was represented by the Political Counsellor, Tom Burge spoke of the much assistance his country has rendered to Nigeria in the areas of justice sector reform and training.

He assured of his country’s continued support of efforts to ensure that the Nigerian Judiciary functions effectively to the benefit of all.

Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) among other justice sector stakeholders have urged the incoming Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to prioritise the sanitisation of the nation’s judiciary.

The past deputy director of the Nigerian Law School, Prof Ernest Ojukwu (SAN), Prof. Samuel Erugo (SAN) and others noted that the Judiciary currently suffers from low public confidence, which they said, requires urgent attention to restore the integrity of the system.

They spoke in Abuja on Tuesday, August 20, during a roundtable discussion on how to address key issues undermining the Judiciary’s institutional integrity, effectiveness and service delivery.

The event was organised by the Tap Initiative for Citizens Development and the Network of University Legal Aid Institutions (NULAI), Nigeria.

Speakers particularly, urged Justice Kekere-ekun to be prepared to reform the judicial appointment process to eradicate nepotism and favouritism, which they claimed was currently rampant.

They also touched on the need for the incoming CJN to address challenges relating to abuse of ex-parte orders, conflicting judgements by courts of coordinate jurisdiction and related problems.

Ojukwu, Erugo and others also stressed the need to reform the process of dealing with election petitions and political cases and work on ways to enhance discipline and accountability I’m the system.

Ojukwu advised the incoming CJN to always be guided by the principles of equity, fairness and justice.

He advocates a process that will reduce the influence of the judiciary in the resolution of election disputes so that political leaders are the true choices of the electorates and not the court.

 Erugo suggested that the Supreme Court should be reformed so that it can review its judgements especially when there is great public outcry.

In his contribution, the Executive Director of Tap Initiative, Martin Obono noted that the National Judicial Council (NJC), which supervises the appointment of judicial officers, attracted public criticism recently over allegations that the outgoing CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola influenced the appointment of family members.

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Obono claimed that the NJC ignored its guidelines in recent appointments and added that “there have been reports of insider subversion of the applicable rules governing judicial appointments, such as the reported appointments in one instance of a candidate who scored zero in the NJC interview.”

He asked the incoming CJN, “to commit explicitly to a policy of restoring integrity and merit to judicial appointments”, stating that achieving this would entail the introduction of transparent processes of selection, advertisement of judicial vacancies, as well as in nomination of candidates, interview, shortlisting and selection.

Another contributor, Folarin Aluko said: “There should be a clear practice direction on management of territorial jurisdiction overlaps.

“It is suggested for this purpose that the structure and scope of such overlaps be agreed at the All Nigerian Conference of Judges and the Practice Directions should be uniform across all the court systems in the country”, he said.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has nominated Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN).

The recommendation was made at its 106th meeting presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola held on August 14 and 15.

The Nation had reported that Ariwoola will formally bow out of office on August 22.

The Council also recommended 28 candidates for appointment as judges of state courts and a candidate for appointment as Kadi of the Sharia Court of the FCT, Abuja to their various governors and Mr. President.

Here is the full list of recommended judges

CHIEF JUSTICE OF NIGERIA

*Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun, CFR

SIX JUDGES, HIGH COURT OF KWARA STATE

1. Olawoyin, Ibijoke Olabisi

2. Abdulrazaq, Fatimah Funsho

3. Folorunsho, Oba Muritala

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4. Dikko, Yusuf Adebayo

5. Adeniyi, Oluwatosin Adenike

6. Osuolale-Ajayi, Temitope Olalekan

ONE JUDGE, HIGH COURT OF KADUNA STATE

7. Zubairu, Murtala Ja’afaru

FOUR JUDGES, HIGH COURT OF BENUE STATE

8. Kor, Vincent Tersoo

9. Ikwulono, Maigida Maimuna

10. Adagba, Nguhemen Julie

11. Tor, Damian Tersugh

TWO JUDGES, CUSTOMARY COURT OF APPEAL, BENUE STATE

12. Onche, Ogah Inalegwu

13. Igba, Theophilus Terhile

EIGHT JUDGES, HIGH COURT OF RIVERS STATE

14. Onyiri, Frank

15. Ugoji, Victor Chinedum

16. Obomanu, Godswill Vidal

17. Oguguo, Rita Chituru

18. Fubara, Alatuwo Elkanah

19. Kokpan, Bariyima Sylvester

20. Obu, Ibietela Innocent Madighi

21. Wifa-Adedipe, Lesi

SIX JUDGES, HIGH COURT OF ONDO STATE

22. Daomi, Williams Adebisi

23. Fabuluje, Adewumi William

24. Ogunwumiju, Mobayonle Idowu

25. Demehin-Ogunbayo, Inumidun Happiness

26. Kpemi, Ojufisintei Justinah

27. Adegoroye, Olufunke Adeola

ONE KADI, SHARIA COURT OF APPEAL, FCT ABUJA

28. Muhammad, Lawal Munir

Stakeholders in the nation’s justice administration system, including judges and lawyers have recommended a reduction in the influence of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in process of selecting and appointing judicial officers.

They expressed discomfort about the CJN’s current overbearing influence on the process and called for urgent amendments to relevant laws and rules to address the concern.

They also suggested the reduction of the number of cases that make it to the Supreme Court as a way of reducing the current workload of the court and curbing delay.

These formed part of the recommendations put forward by participants at the 2024 National Summit on Justice held on April 24 and 25 in Abuja with the theme: “Repositioning the Justice sector in Nigeria: Constitutional, Statutory and operational reforms for access and efficiency.”

Participants at the well attended event, put together by the Federal Ministry of Justice, equally proposed  a review of the current court administration arrangement with a view to professionalising it and  allow judicial officers, not trained in court administration, to focus on their adjudicatory responsibilities.

The chairman of the summit planning committee, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade (SAN), while speaking in Abuja on Friday, gave a summary of  proceedings at the two-day event, held at the National Judicial Institute (NJI).

Ajibade said the panel, comprising judges and lawyers, that examined the issue of selection and appointment of judicial officers, agreed that the role of the NJC in discharging its responsibility for judicial appointments into the superior court of record required significant review.

He added: “There was a concern expressed about the fact that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is the chairman of the NJC is also the Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, which is the body that initially reviews proposals or lists of candidates by appointment into judicial office. 

“The members (of the panel) pointed out the seeming inconsistency between the Chief Justice of Nigeria playing both those roles, as it would appear that he was then recommending candidates to himself, being chairman of both bodies, and being the person who appoints a significant number of the members of both bodies other than those who are statutory members,” he said.

Ajibade stated that there was a general consensus that there was a need to reconstitute or proposed the reconstitution of these bodies – both the National Judicial Council and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC). 

Still on appointment of judges, he added that “there was a consensus that there is a need to codify the judicial appointments process, such that the discretion that is currently witnessed in the appointments process is reduced to the barest minimum.”

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He said similar reform proposal was made regarding the composition of State Judicial Service Commissions (SJSCs), to address the influence the Chief Judges ans ensure that the development or preparation of shortlist of candidates for judicial appointments is something that is to be done by all members of the SJSC as a whole and not just by the Chief Judges. 

As it relates to limiting the number of cases that make it to the Supreme Court, Ajibade said the panel that considered the issue of delay and congestion, suggested a number of measures to be adopted.

A major recommendation, he noted, was “the importance of limiting the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and ensuring that matters that would go to the Supreme Court would only be matters of significant national importance. 

“And, even at that, it would only be by the leave of the Supreme Court. The automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court will be severely curtailed and will be limited only to matters relating to the office and the election into the office of the president of the federation, Vice President and, and Governors of the states.”

Ajibade recalled that one of the panels examined various models for professionalising the administration of the courts, whilst ensuring the independence of the judiciary.

He said at the conclusion of the panel’s discussions, it was agreed that there was a need to professionalise the administration of the courts; a need to appoint persons with clear administrative experience, to be selected through a transparent process, to administer the courts.

This arrangement, it was agreed would separate the administration of the courts from the administration of justice. 

Ajibade added: “I think the area of debate was not so much as to the common sense behind this, but as to who should exercise the power to appoint these administrators, so as to ensure that the independence of the judiciary was not subverted. 

“And, the consensus was that it was something that would be taken back and debated in the course of drafting the appropriate legislation.”

He noted that there was a clear consensus on the need to professionalise the administration of the courts, in view of the fact that judges are, by their training, not versed in administration or management, but are trained to adjudicate over cases. 

Ajibade added: “The consensus at the end of the summit was that issues raised were topical and significant. 

“There was a commitment by the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and by all present that had listened to the discussions and deliberations at the summit, that there was a need to engage, as quickly as possible, in converting these discussions and resolutions into draft legislation that will be presented to the National Assembly for inclusion in the ongoing constitution review process, and also for non-constitutional related legislation to be implemented almost immediately.”