The National Judicial Council (NJC) has made it clear that the Southeast is not being considered in the move to recruit 14 judges to the Court of Appeal because it has already filled its quarters in the system.
A statement by the Director of information in NJC, Soji Oye,
Director, Information, in response to publication in an on-line medium and some newspapers alleging that the NJC left out Southeast in the 14 judges recommended for appointment to the Court of Appeal, said that the allegation is a figment of the imagination of the media.
“To put the records straight, appointment of Judicial Officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.
“Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of Justices of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of Justices to be appointed should not be more than 90 plus the President. The Court however, currently has 76 Justices leaving vacancy for additional 14 Justices. Of the 76 Justices of the Court, the North Central with 6 States and FCT has 12 Justices; North-East with 6 States has 12 Justices plus the President; North-West with 7 States has 9 Justices; South-East with 5 States has 13 Justices; South-South with 6 States has 14 Justices and South-West with 6 States has 15 Justices.
“In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately presented, all States that have 3 serving Justices were not considered unless under special circumstances.
“The States not considered are:
Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.
“States like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.”
The statement said that appointments are made to the Court based on the elevation of Appeal Court Justices to the Supreme Court, retirement at the age of 70 years, or death. Such vacancies are filled with Judicial Officers from the Zone of the Judge who died, retired or elevated.
It described as unfair, media report that the NJC recommended no Candidate from the Southeast which currently has 13 Justices at the Court of Appeal.
The statement called on Journalists to always balance their report to avoid litigation.
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