At the centre of the aspirations to reform the justice sector in Nigeria, are the scepticisms over the latest assembly of men and women in the judiciary, who now claim to set the stage for the much-expected reforms at the Judiciary Summit in Abuja. Meanwhile, their previous outings ended in executive cooler and never delivered the expected outcomes.

Before the 2024 summit, there were many others, which ended up as talk shops. However, sensing that the people are not enamoured by these continuous gatherings, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) vowed to give seriousness and potential impact to the discussions.

This, Fagbemi said, cannot be done alone, but with the active collaboration of stakeholders. During the presentation of the communique, the chairman of the Joint Planning Committee of the summit, Dr Babatunde Ajibade (SAN), said the minister is determined to ensure that discussions from the summit are speedily given effect although some require constitutional amendment to give effect to them.

Because he was present, the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio said he would rally the parliament to do the needful in respect of the proposals.

epresented by his Vice, Senator Kashim Shetima, the president said he would ensure that the justice system in Nigeria is not just working but meets the aspirations of the people.

At the summit, stakeholders, including judges and lawyers, recommended a reduction in the influence of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in the process of selecting and appointing judicial officers.

They expressed discomfort about the CJN’s current overbearing influence on the process and called for urgent amendments to relevant laws and rules to address the concern.

They also suggested the reduction of the number of cases that make it to the Supreme Court as a way of reducing the current workload of the court and curbing delay.

At the Judicial panel session which included the President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip; Dr Oliver Stolpe of the UNODC; Prof Ameze Guobadia of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos and Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN), moderated by Mrs Funke Adekoya (SAN), the panelists expressed serious concerns about leadership in the judiciary.

They argued that it is a misnomer for the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), who is the chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to also chair the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), which is the body that initially reviews proposals or lists of candidates to be appointed into the judiciary.

They pointed out that it is inconsistent for the CJN to play both roles, as it would appear that he is recommending candidates to himself being chairman of both bodies and being the person who appoints a significant number of the members of both bodies other than those who are statutory members.

The consensus reached by this panel was that the role of the NJC in discharging its responsibility for judicial appointments into the Superior Court of record required significant review.

Culled From The Guardian