FJSC Shortlists 22 Justices for Elevation to Supreme Court Bench

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has shortlisted 22 justices of the appellate court for elevation to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The move is aimed at filling vacant positions at the apex court as well as ensuring that the bench of the Supreme Court is brought to its full complement of 21 justices.

The apex court bench had witnessed continued depletion in the last two years owing to deaths and retirements without any commensurate appointments.
As at today, the bench comprises 10 justices, including the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) who doubles as the chairman of the FJSC, National Judicial Council (NJC), National Judicial Institute (NJI) and all other agencies in the judiciary.

While Nigerians including senior advocates have made several calls in support of appointing new justices for over two years now, THISDAY on Thursday learnt that the FJSC had shortlisted and forwarded 22 Justices from the appellate court to the NJC to be appointed as justices of the Supreme Court.
The FJSC’s document, although was not confirmed by the NJC, revealed a regional distribution of nominees.

Notably, the North-central region has six nominations, while the South-west and South-south regions each has two. The South-east and North-east regions both have six and two nominees, respectively.

The announcement followed disclosure in September 2023, that the Supreme Court’s Justices had diminished to 10 as against 21 stipulated by the constitution.
When contacted to confirm the list, NJC’s Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye said: “I do not know, so cannot confirm the authenticity”.

According to the document, those shortlisted include: Hon. Justice Nwaoma Uwa (Abia State), Hon. Justice Onyekachi Otisi (Abia State), Hon. Justice Obande Ogbuinya (Ebonyi State), Hon. Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua (Imo State), Hon. Justice Anthony Ogakwu (Enugu State) and Hon. Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (Imo State), for the South-east.

From the South-south were : Justice Moore Adumein (Bayelsa State) and  Justice Biobele Georgewill (Rivers State). Justice Adewale Abiru (Lagos State) and Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (Osun State)  were selected from the South-west.

From the North-central, those selected included: Justice Jummai Sankey (Plateau State), Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo (Plateau), Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi State), Justice Ridman Abdullahi (Nassarawa State), Justice Baba Idris (Niger State) and Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Benue State).

Besides, those picked from the North-east included: Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Bauchi State) and Justice Abubakar Talba (Adamawa State), while from the North-west were Justice Muhammad Shuaibu (Jigawa State), Justice Bello Aliyu (Zamfara State) and Justice Abubakar Umar (Kebbi State). Also included was Justice Abdullahi Bayero (Kano State).