Law Scholar Asks Tinubu to Prioritise Appointment of Supreme Court Judges
Alex Enumah in Abuja
President of the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS), Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George (SAN) has called on the incoming administration to give priority to the appointments of judges of the appellate courts in order to restore the hope of the common man in the country’s justice system.
Akinseye-George, a professor of public law, said one of the major problems facing the country today is the persistent issue of delay in justice delivery, which according to him, is the mother of criminality which in turn breeds impunity.
He made the call recently at a two-day training/seminar for young lawyers on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The senior lawyer said making the issue of rotation of political offices constitutional would create a sense of belongingness among Nigerians and at the same time eradicate the hopelessness said to be responsible for the current desperation by politicians.
He, therefore, said the in-coming government should take urgent action to reduce the problem of delay in justice delivery.
As an immediate step, the law scholar explained that it should consider “urgently filling the vacancies in the appellate courts, introducing technology to do away with the archaic system of manual writing by judges, abolishing de novo trials, improve the working conditions of judges and prescribing a maximum timeline for the conclusion of court cases.
“Such time limits should not be limited to only Election cases. These and other urgent measures are needed to restore the hope of the common man in the justice system.
On the issue of zoning, Akinseye-George observed that if there were any major lessons to be learnt from the recent general elections, is that rotation of elective offices must no longer be left to the whims and caprices of politicians.
According to him, the recent elections were highly divisive; reopened old wounds and rekindled primordial and parochial tendencies which may endanger the country’s democracy, if not carefully addressed.
To this end, Akinseye-George disclosed that the centre would work with like-minded Nigerians to propose amendments to the constitution on rotation of major political offices at all levels.
“The practice of electing political officers by rotation must be entrenched in the Constitution. Our Centre intends to work with like-minded Nigerians to propose amendments to the Constitution on Rotation of major political offices at all levels.
“All zones, and sections of this country and of every state and every community must be given a sense of belonging as equal owners of the Nigerian space.
“Hopelessness breeds desperation. Every community must have the hope that one day it will be their turn to produce the president, governor, senator, etc,” he said.
The president suggested that the country may begin with the idea of “one president and six vice Presidents, one per geo political zone. One governor and three deputies, one per senatorial zone”, he said.
He added that other details will be worked out in a bill for constitutional amendment which shall be tabled before the National Assembly.
He disclosed that the purpose of the training was to improve awareness and deepen the knowledge of the ACJA by as many Nigerians as possible, adding that since its passage in 2025, 35 states of the federation have already domesticated the Act.
“This particular training is deliberately targeted at young lawyers with a view to encouraging some of you to take on development lawyering.
“As young lawyers, you have many career options. One of them is public interest lawyering. That’s what we do at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies (CSLS). For several years now we have focused on the development of the Nigerian criminal justice system.
“We joined forces with like-minded individuals and organisations to develop the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) which was passed at the federal level in 2015,” he added.
