As Apex Court Gets Set for Full Complements of 21 Justices…

Following the recommendation of 11 Justices for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, has made history by ensuring that the apex court for the first time has full complements of 21 Justices as required by law, writes Alex Enumah.

When confirmed by the Senate and approved by President Bola Tinubu, the appointment of 11 justices into the bench of the Supreme Court will bring the bench to its full compliment of 21 justices; a feat that have been elusive to the judiciary since inception.

Section 230 (2) (b) of the 1999 constitution (As amended) provides that, “The Supreme Court of Nigeria shall consist of such number of Justices not exceeding 21 as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.”

However, the last time the bench of the apex court got very close to achieving its full compliment was in 2020, when eight Justices of the appellate court were elevated to join 12 of their brother justices on the bench of the apex court. Unfortunately, the bench since 2021 took a steady nosedive from 20 Justices to its current 10 Justices, a situation the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, described as the lowest in the history of the country’s judiciary.

The depletion was attributed to mandatory retirement and death in the last three years, without a commensurate appointment to fill vacant positions despite the unbearable working conditions at the apex court.

Although, it was not clear where to place the blame for the non appointment of Supreme Court Justices over the last three years but one thing that was obvious was that efforts were made to fill the vacant positions.

Recall that Ariwoola, at the opening of the 2023/2024 new legal year while acknowledging efforts of his predecessor, Justice Tanko Muhammad (rtd) to increase the number vowed to break the jinx at the apex court. “As soon as I assumed office on the June 27, 2022, I immediately got down to work on this urgent and immediate need in particular. Though we have not gotten them on board yet, I can convincingly assure the litigant public that within a very short while, the Supreme Court of Nigeria will, for the very first time in its history, get the constitutionally-prescribed full complement of 21 Justices”, Ariwoola had said.

“That is one of the legacies I have been working assiduously to leave behind as it now seems that the Court has been somewhat ‘jinxed’ from meeting its constitutional requirement since that piece of legislation was enacted several years ago”, he had added.

The issue of appointment to fill vacant positions at the apex court has been in the front burner of national discourse for a long while, owing to the litigious nature of most Nigerians and also the fact that year 2023 was an election year characterized by political suits with their timelines. By nature of Nigerian politicians who must have their way at all costs, courts from the high court up to the Supreme Court for nearly two years are seized by political matters to the detriment of other cases. These cases dated back to 2022 when political parties started conducting their primaries and runs up till early 2024, when the last batch of the 2023 election petition cases would be decided by the apex court.

Besides, there is the off cycle election in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States which will take six months of judicial time at the tribunal and two months each at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in 2024.

Be that as it may, the appointment no doubt is a huge relief for the CJN and nine of his brother justices who hitherto had been saddled with the herculean task of providing justice for the over 200 million Nigerians. While the current 10 Justices at the apex court are CJN Ariwoola, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, John Okoro, Uwani Abba Aji, Garba Mohammed, Helen Ogunwumiju, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Abubakar Tijjani and Emmanuel Agim, the new Justices subject to their confirmation by the Senate and approval of President Tinubu include Justice Haruna Tsammani, Justice Jummai Sankey, Justice Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Justice Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme, Justice Moore Aseimo A. Adumein, Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya and Justice Stephen Jonah Adah.

Others are Justice Habeeb Adewale O. Abiru, Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur, Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar and Justice Mohammed Baba Idris.

Besides the issue of reducing the burdens on the apex court bench, the new appointment has also addressed the issue of balance raised by Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, at his retirement recently. Recall that the former number two justice on the bench of the Supreme Court had accused Ariwoola of deliberately refusing to appoint justices from some geopolitical zones for political reasons. According to the retired jurist, the absence of such zones in the presidential election appeal was dangerous for the country’s democracy. It was his position that in pursuit of justice and transparency in presidential appeals from the lower court, all geopolitical zones are required to participate in the hearing.

“It is therefore dangerous for democracy and equity for two entire regions to be left out in the decisions that will affect the generality of Nigerians. This is not what our laws envisaged”.

Recall that the apex court sometime ago delivered its verdict in two separate appeals filed by Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). The seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice John Inyang Okoro had dismissed the two appeals on grounds that they lacked merit.

According to the apex court, the appellants did not present convincing and credible evidence before the apex court so as to enable the apex court set aside the judgment of the presidential election tribunal, which had on September 6, upheld the declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25, presidential election.

It would be noted that while Tinubu is from the South-west geopolitical zone of the country; Atiku and Obi who came second and third respectively are from the North-east and South-east geopolitical zones of the country.

Speaking further, Muhammad noted that with the passing away of Justice Chima Centus Nweze on July 29, 2023, “the South East no longer has any presence at the Supreme Court” adding that neither has there been any appointment to fill the vacuum created by the death of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, on July 7, 2021. While observing that no one had expected the sudden death of late Justice Nweze, the newly retired justice lamented that, “it has been two years and seven months since the previous justice from the South East died and no appointment was made”.

Besides the South East, Muhammad also stated that with his retirement, the North Central will also now suffer the same fate as that of the South East, since no replacement was made for the region two years ago following the retirement of Justice Ejembi Eko and Justice Sidi Bage, some years ago.

“Also, it was clear ab-initio that I will be leaving the court this day on attaining the statutory age of 70. It is then not in doubt that there has been sufficient time for suitable replacements to have been appointed. This is yet to occur”, he said.

While observing that as at today, only four geopolitical zones – the South-west, South-south, North-west and North-east are represented in the Supreme Court with the Southwest and Northwest fully represented, he queried why appropriate steps have not been timeously taken to fill outstanding vacancies in the apex court.

“It is evident that the decision not to fill the vacancies in the court is deliberate. It is all about the absolute powers vested in the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the responsible exercise of same”, he said.

However, all that would be in the past now as all six geopolitical zones are fully represented in the apex court. Recall that 22 names were initially shortlisted for elevation from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court in order of priority and reserve. The regional distribution of nominees revealed that, the North-Central region has six, while the South-West and South-South regions has two each. The South-East and North-East regions both have six and two nominees, respectively.

From the 11 Supreme Court Justices-designate, both the South-east and North-central zones have the highest of three justices each, while the North-east has two, the North-west, South-west and  South-south have one each.

While the three appointed justices from the South-east include Justice Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa (Abia), Justice Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme (Imo) and Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya (Ebonyi), those from the North-central include; Justice Jummai Sankey (Plateau), Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi) and Justice Baba Idris (Niger).

While this may be good news to litigants and Nigerians generally, some advocates who have been itching to cross from the bar to the bench would have been disappointed. Recall that the umbrella body for lawyers in Nigeria, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) had been pushing for the expansion of appointment into the bench of the Supreme Court to include lawyers with certain years of experience.

For critical stakeholders in the justice sector, the new appointments however, may not fully resolve the challenge of effective justice delivery in the country until there is a constitutional amendment to limit the kind of cases that reaches the Supreme Court; creation of special courts to handle political cases; and adoption of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.