Judges elevation to Appeal Court not lopsided, says CJN Onnoghen

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen has said that the ongoing exercise to elevate certain judges of the High Court to the Court of Appeal is not lopsided or tilted in favour of any particular geo-political zone of the country.

The CJN added that the criteria for the selection of judges is based on quota system and on the zone for which a vacant position exists.

Onnoghen, who is also the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), stated this through his Senior Special Assistant Mr. Awassam Bassey Ekpenyong on Monday night after an online medium alleged lopsidedness in the elevation of the judges.

Ekpenyong said, “I’m not holding brief for the NJC or the interview panels, neither am I confirming the authenticity or otherwise of the list circulating online, but it is pertinent to clarify that appointment to the Court of Appeal is by quota. Vacancies exist when Justices die, retire or are promoted to the Supreme Court.

In such situations, applications are called from the zone of the previous occupant to replace him or her. “Recently, there have been series of Justices in the Supreme Court who retired from the North, including the two previous Chief Justices of Nigeria, Hon Justice Aloma Mukhtar and Hon Justice Mahmud Mohammed.

“Also one of the Justices from Sokoto State and another from Kaduna State died at the stampede that occurred during pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia a couple of years back. “To fill those vacancies in the Supreme Court, the equivalent number of Justices were elevated from the Court of Appeal, including Hon Justices Amina Adamu Augie, Ejembi Eko, Paul Adamu Galinje, and Sidi Dauda Bage, among others.

“Following these departures, vacancies were advertised and, in tandem with the quota system, it is expected that appointment to the vacant positions would come from the zones of their previous occupants. “The Court of Appeal currently has 76 serving Justices from the original 85 appointed in the 16 Divisions of the Court spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country.”

Meanwhile, the Director of Information of the NJC, Mr. Soji Oye, has said that the allegation that none of the candidates shortlisted was from the South-East was an imagination of the online media. He also warned the media to be circumspect in their reportage and avoid litigation.

Oye stated this in a statement made available in Abuja on Tuesday. He added that there was the need to put the records straight. According to him, there is ongoing process for the elevation of new judges to Court of Appeal, saying that there is the need to put the records straight.

He said, “Appointment of Judicial Officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread. Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of Justices of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of Justices to be appointed should not be more than 90 plus the President. “ The Court however, currently has 76 Justices leaving vacancy for additional 14 Justices.

Of the 76 Justices of the Court, the North Central with 6 States and FCT has 12 Justices; NorthEast with 6 States has 12 Justices plus the President; North-West with 7 States has 9 Justices; South-East with 5 States has 13 Justices; South-South with 6 States has 14 Justices and South-West with 6 States has 15 Justices. “In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately presented, all States that have 3 serving Justices were not considered unless under special circumstances.

“The states not considered are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo. States like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.

“Appointments are made to the Court based on the elevation of Appeal Court Justices to the Supreme Court, retirement at the age of 70 years, or death. Such vacancies are filled with Judicial Officers from the Zone of the Judge who died, retired or elevated.

“It is therefore unfair for the online media to claim that the NJC recommended no candidate from the South-East which currently has 13 Justices at the Court of Appeal”

The media had reported that there was a list classified as priority with the following judges: P A Mahmoud (Benue State), Folashade Ojo (Kwara State), I. G. Abundaga (Nasarawa State), M. B. Idris (Niger State) and Justice A. M. Talba (Adamawa State) were said to have been put on the priority list. Others on the priority list are Justices Kadi M. M. Alkali (Adamawa State) , A. I. Adenyangtso (Taraba), A. S. Umar and O. Z. Senchi (Kebbi State) A. M. Lamido (Sokoto State) B. B. Aliyu (Zamfara State), Ebowei Tobi (Delta State) and G.O. Kolawole (Osun State). But judges on reserved list are as follows: O. Itodo (Benue), M. A. Abdul Gafar (Kwara), D. D. Adeck (Nasarawa) D. G. Mann (Plateau) D. G. Goji (Adamawa), Kadi U. B. Umar (Adamawa), Y. A. Bashir (Taraba), Z. B. Abubakar (Kebbi), I. M. Sani (Kaduna), F. L. Adamu (Kano), I. B. Ahmed (Katsina), M Y Uftsha’u (Zamfara), P. O. Affen (Bayelsa) and O. A. Ipaye (Osun),”

Andrew Orolua