The National Judicial Council (NJC) has received a list of 22 nominees for 11 openings on the Supreme Court bench.
The NJC is expected to pick 11 deserving candidates from the list and forward same to President Bola Tinubu, who shall appoint them to the Supreme Court bench, although, subject to Senate confirmation.
Many news platforms, including Channels Television, reported Thursday that the list was sent to the NJC by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).
The FJSC is responsible for conducting some of the earliest steps in the process of appointment of judges for federal courts. The various states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have their analogous bodies carrying out equivalent roles.
The involvement of either the federal or state judicial commission begins after the head of the court that is in need of judges declares vacancies on the court’s bench.
Those interested in the positions indicate their interest by getting recommendation letters from justices and other relevant officials in the justice sector and send same to the FJSC.
FJSC then reviews the applications by checking for eligibility of the applicants in terms of their professional records and geographical zones of origin, and interviewing them, to prune down the number.
At the end of the process, FJSC sends a list of nominees, double of the number of the openings on the court’s bench, to the NJC.
Vacancies
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, declared openings on the Supreme Court bench in June.
The court, with 10 justices currently, has 11 vacancies that need to be filled for the court to have its full complement of 21 justices. The court has never attained the feat of having its full complement of justices.
The FJSC list that emerged on Thursday is made up of names of 22 judges of the Court of Appeal seeking to be elevated to the Supreme Court bench.
They are from different geo-political zones of the country. The various zones have varying number of nominees on the list, depending on how many representatives they currently have on the Supreme Court bench.
Currently, only four of the six geo-political zones are represented on the Supreme Court bench. While South-west and North-east have three each, South-south and North-west have two each.
Both the South-east and North-central have zero each. The two zones lost their last representatives on the Supreme Court bench with the retirement of Dattijo Muhammad from Niger State, North-central, in October, and the death of Centus Nweze from Enugu State, South-east, in July.
Distribution of nominees across regions
This accounts for why the two zones with no representatives on the bench has the highest number of nominees on the FJSC list.
Both zones – South-east and North-central – have six each. North-east has two, North-west four, South-West two and South-south has two.
The nominees are made up of priority candidates, with each having their reserve candidates listed next to them.
After conducting its appointment process which includes interviews, NJC is expected to pick 11 names which it will recommend to the President, who will, in turn, transmit same to the Senate for screening.
It is almost certain that nominees indicated as priority candidates will make NJC’s list to be recommended to the President.
Each reserved candidate is on the list as a possible quick replacement should there be any need to drop the corresponding priority candidate.
Below is the list of the nominees with their states and zones of origins:
SOUTH-EAST
1. Hon Justice Nwaoma Uwa (Abia State) – Priority
1A.Hon Justice Onyekachi Otisi (Abia State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Obande Ogbuinya (Ebonyi State) – Priority
2A. Hon Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua (Imo State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Anthony Ogakwu (Enugu State) – Priority
3A. Hon Justice Chioma Nwosu-lheme (Imo State) – Reserve
SOUTH-SOUTH
1. Hon Justice Moore Adumein (Bayelsa State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Biobele Georgewill (Rivers State) – Reserve
SOUTH-WEST
1. Hon Justice Adewale Abiru (Lagos State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (Osun State) – Reserve
NORTH-CENTRAL
1. Hon Jummai Sankey (Plateau State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo (Plateau) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi State) – Priority
2A. Hon Justice Ridman Maiwada Abdullahi (Nassarawa State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Baba Idris (Niger State) – Priority
3A. Hon Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Benue State) – Reserve
NORTH-EAST
1. Hon Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Bauchi State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Abubakar Talba (Adamawa State)
NORTH-WEST
1. Hon Justice Muhammad Lawal Shuaibu (Jigawa State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Bello Aliyu (Zamfara State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar (Kebbi State) – Priority
2A. Hon Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero (Kano State) – Reserve
