By Ise-Oluwa Ige
In this report, Vanguard’s Law and Human Rights examines two notices dated June 14 and June 19, 2023, respectively, issued by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola on his request for fresh nomination for consideration for appointment into the Supreme Court at a time Nigerians were waiting for the National Judicial Council, NJC, to transmit the list of recommended justices of the apex court to President Bola Tinubu and argues that the language of the notices appears to have sparked confusion in the legal community particularly regarding the fate of 29 Appeal Court justices nursing ambition of elevation to the apex bench.
On June 14, 2023, the CJN, Olukayode Ariwoola, requested the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Y. Maikyau, SAN, and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, to nominate suitably qualified candidates for consideration for appointment into the Supreme Court.
The number one judicial officer communicated the request by a notice. The notice declared eight seats vacant on the Supreme Court bench.
Section 231(3) of the 1999 Constitution (As amended) provides that a person shall not be qualified to hold the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria or of a Justice of the Supreme Court, unless he is qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than 15 years.
The notice on the appointment of justices of the Supreme Court explained the distribution of the slots.
Specifically, Justice Ariwoola explained that of the eight vacant seats, suitably qualified legal practitioners from the South-East, the South-West, and the North-Central would fill two slots each (making six) while qualified candidates from the South-South and the North-West would fill a slot each.
By implication, even if there are suitably qualified candidates from the North-East, the sixth geo-political zone in the country, such candidates would have to wait until a justice of the Supreme Court from the zone quits the bench.
While Maikyau and Justice Dongban-Mensem were still processing the request, Chief Justice Ariwoola on June 19, 2023, sent an updated notice to the NBA President and other heads of court to declare two additional openings on the Supreme Court bench.
Specifically, under the new arrangement, the vacant slots would be filled on regional basis thus: South-East (two); South-South (one); South-West (one); North-Central (three); North-East (one) and North-West (two). The new notice redistributes the available slots to the country’s six regions, correcting the imbalance in regional representation that would have resulted from the previous plan.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Yakubu Maikyau, in an email to lawyers last week Thursday said the available slots are now open to qualified candidates from all the six geo-political zones.
With CJN’s new notice, what happens to the shortlisted Appeal Court justices?
Vanguard reports that before June 14, 2023 when Justice Ariwoola issued the notice on appointment of justices of the Supreme Court, a process which commenced about two years ago during the administration of ex-Chief Justice Tanko Muhammad, had produced a shortlist of candidates at the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, level.