Lawyers, Activist, Others Give Incoming CJN, Kekere-Ekun Six Months Timeline to Initiate Reforms 

* Say nation’s judiciary at lowest ebb

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

A cross section of Nigerians have advised the incoming Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to initiate reforms that will redeem and restore the glory of the nation’s judiciary within the first six months of assuming office.

Speakers at a roundtable, which included two Professors of Law, Mr Ernest Ojukwu (SAN) and Samuel Erugo (SAN), foremost female human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, as well as leaders of some civil society organizations (CSOs), predicated their advice on the grounds that Justice Kekere-Ekun is assuming the helms of affairs “at a time when the judiciary confronts far-reaching challenges to its authority and reputation”.

The roundtable was organized by TAP Initiative for Citizens Development in collaboration with the Network of University Legal Aid Initiative (NULAI).

In his opening remarks, the Executive Director of Tap Initiative for Citizens Development, Mr Martin Obono, pointed out that the “institutional credibility of the judicial branch in Nigeria has never been lower in public esteem”.

Obono said while Kekere-ekun is coming at a very critical and challenging period of the Judiciary, the situation offers her an opportunity to articulate agenda for judicial reforms in order to restore public trust and confidence in the judiciary.

“As an organization and individuals, we seek to contribute to the distillation of this agenda,” Obono said.

The group said that the agenda must address the following areas: judicial appointments, conflicting judgments and abuse of interim injunctions, discipline and accountability, election petitions and political cases and reform of the Supreme Court.

Speaking on the issue of judicial appointment, Obono observed that the National Judicial Council (NJC), which overseas the appointment of judges, has of recent come under heavy criticism, especially with the outgoing CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, accused of nepotism and favouritism.

While alleging that the council disregarded its guidelines over recent appointments, Obono said a report revealed that in one instance, the NJC appointed “a candidate who scored zero in the NJC interview”.

He therefore urged the new CJN “to commit explicitly to a policy of restoring integrity and merit to judicial appointments”, adding that achieving this would entail the introduction of transparent processes of selection, advertisement of judicial vacancies, as well as in nomination of candidates, interview, short listing and selections.

On her part, Yesufu called on the CJN to “initiate public consultation to announce within six months of assumption of office, measures designed to address the escalating patterns of judicial corruption as documented by the UNODC -NBS Corruption in Nigeria Report 2024”.

She also called for the introduction of a mechanism for increased financial transparency, accountability and public reporting so as to restore public trust.

The female activist stated that disciplinary processes should be “both prompt and decisive and dispositions or punishment should be calibrated to be proportionate to the seriousness of the misconduct found”.

Meanwhile, a member of the Garki branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Folarin Aluko, urged the new CJN to urgently tackle the incidence of conflicting judgments and abuse of interim injunctions.

“There should be a clear practice directions on management of territorial jurisdiction overlaps. It is suggested for this purpose that the structure and scope of such overlaps be agreed at the All Nigerian Conference of Judges and the Practice Directions should be uniform across all the court systems in the country,” he said.

Similarly, both Ojukwu and Erugo said it was high time election petitions were taken away from the dockets of the courts, calling for the implementation of recommendations of the Babalakin Commission and Uwais Panel concerning the need for courts to support the will of the people in election and/or ensure the ascertainment of such will so that it can be protected.