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Federal High Court Celebrates 50 Years

The Federal High Court on Thursday last week, celebrated 50 years of justice delivery in Nigeria.  

The Court, which was established on 13 April, 1973 under the Federal Revenue Act of 1973 (1973 No.13) and it was formerly known as Federal Revenue Court. The Court started with four Judges, with a President as its head. It was however, renamed the “Federal High Court” by Section 228 (1) and 230 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1979. The Honourable Justice S.O. Lambo was the first President of the Federal Revenue Court and served between 1973 and 1975, while Hon. Justice John Tsoho is the 10th and current Chief Judge of FHC.

The Court had grown structurally over the years, and presently has divisions in all the States of the Federation, including Abuja, where its headquarters is located.

The FHC, as part of its drive for capacity and human development, recently launched an electronic filing platform.

 An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Yunusa Ibrahim, described the 50 years of FHC in justice delivery, as a milestone in the administration of justice. He said the court had contributed in no small measure to justice delivery, through its numerous judgements and decisions.

According to Mr Ibrahim, to facilitate the expeditious determination of civil cases and matters before the court, the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019 was enacted under Justice  Tsoho pursuant to Section 254 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Also speaking, another legal practitioner, Josephine Ijekhuemen, said the importance of the court in the Nigerian judiciary cannot be over-emphasised. She said due to its indispensable role, the new Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2022, conferred additional jurisdiction on the FHC to hear and determine pre-election complaints.

Justice Tsoho, while delivering a speech at a special court session to mark the commencement of the court’s 2022/2023 Legal Year on 12 December, 2022, said in response to the enormous time-bound responsibility by the new Electoral Act, he has constituted a special task force of Judges for the swift disposal of pre-election matters.

Bearing in mind that Section 285(10) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that pre-election cases must be concluded within 180 days from the date of filing of the suit, the CJ drafted Judges from their substantive bases to help complete all pre-election cases in other judicial divisions that had a glut of these cases, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He, therefore, commended the Judges for their resilience and sheer determination, to deliver justice within the time frame.

He also thanked the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, for approving an emergency fund to support the court in the assignment.

The CJ also assured Judges and staff, of a better welfare package. He further added that though the court had 76 Judges across all its divisions nationwide, efforts would be made to recruit more Judges.

Justice Tsoho urged the Judges to always discharge their duties with the fear of God.