APPOINTMENT TO THE BENCH  

Only the best should make it to the bench

At a recent valedictory session to mark his retirement from the Supreme Court, Justice Adamu Dattijo spoke to how unwholesome practices have compromised the judiciary in Nigeria. Specifically, he drew attention to the factors that now influence critical appointments to the bench. “A couple of years ago, appointment to the bench was strictly on merit. Sound knowledge of the law, integrity, honour, and hard work distinguished those who were elevated,” he said while also highlighting what is going on today. “It is asserted that the process of appointment to judicial positions is deliberately conducted to give undue advantage to the ‘children, spouses, and mistresses’ of serving and retired judges and managers of judicial offices.”  

Justice Dattijo did not say anything new. But coming from someone of his status, authorities in the sector must pay attention. Long before members of the public took notice, appointment of judges had been politicised. Victims of this politics were not courageous enough to speak out. They feared that if they did, they would be punished. Today, many are speaking through unconventional means, using bar associations, socio-cultural groups and social media. Some of the revelations are shocking. It shows that ethnic and religious considerations as well as political affiliations and family ties are now being used to determine suitability for appointment into the bench. This bodes ill for the rule of law in Nigeria.

From Customary to the Supreme Court, appointment of Judges is now fraught with controversies and allegations of impropriety. In October 2020, then Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, joined the list of those advocating reform at a webinar themed ‘Selection and appointment of judges: Lessons for Nigeria,’ organised by Justice Research Institute (JRI). “If we leave it to the system that is going on at the moment; we are clearly headed in the wrong direction because interest whether the private, political or group influences how judges are appointed”, he said. “We must agree to an objective process to rigorously examine, test and interview all of those who want to come forward as judges.” Osinbajo’s words have been reechoed by Justice Dattijo who stated that “Appointments should not be polluted by political, selfish, and sectional interests. The place of merit, it must be urged, cannot be over-emphasized.”   

   Unfortunately, the bigger tragedy is that the present leadership seems to lack the courage to institutionalise the necessary reforms to free the judiciary from this disgraceful level it has descended to. This is perhaps because those in leadership positions are themselves beneficiaries of the same skewed appointment process and cannot afford to rock the boat. Besides, the expectation that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who also doubles as the chairman of the National Judicial Commission (NJC), that is statutorily saddled with the responsibility for appointment, promotion and discipline of judges, will initiate the necessary reforms seems misplaced. The current CJN appears disinterested even when there are reports with which he can institute the reform. A conference jointly organised by in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association, Access to Justice and NJC had already dealt with the issue.

For more than two decades, especially since the current democratic dispensation in 1999, critical stakeholders in the justice sector have been calling for transparency and merit in the appointment of judges. The last efforts were made under the only female CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar. It is worth reminding the leadership of the judiciary of the opening remarks of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative at that session: “Public confidence in a free, fair and impartial judiciary is enhanced when the public is aware of the process by which judges and magistrates are selected.”  

There can be no better time to act than now!