Going by the provisions of the Constitution, not minding that only 13 justices that are currently on the bench, the Supreme Court, without any ambiguity, is legitimately constituted to hear and determine any matter that is brought before it.
Particularly, the Supreme Court in the wake of some of its judgments considered controversial by interested parties have attracted undue public attention to itself, almost to the point of denigrating the once-revered arm of government. It would be recalled that the National Judicial Council , a body saddled with the responsibility of recommending appointment of judges and justices, had in October last year, recommended the appointment of Justice Adamu Jauro ; Justice Emmanuel A. Agim, ; Justice C. Oseji , and Justice Helen M. Ogunwumiju, to the Supreme Court bench.
Luke observed that the apex court was confronted with a plethora of cases, and that due to lack of the requisite number of justices, its adjudication was slow. An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Daniel Makolo, not only aligned himself with the position of the lawmaker, but also recalled the submission of the Minister of State for Niger Delta, Festus Keyamo SAN, during his screening at the National Assembly.
“If we want to get justice in our nation and make our justice system functional, and respond to the needs and yearnings of the people, we should even expand the number of Supreme Court justices beyond the stipulated 21.” “So, we are the cause of our problems. We need to appoint more justices to the Supreme Court. For me, the 21 stipulated by law is not even enough, and to add insult to injury, they are just 13 now. That is very bad, especially when you consider the fact that most of them are over 60 years old. As a result, they hardly form a quorum except for political matters. Civil and criminal matters are left unattended to, which is a serious problem.
“The truth is that the present situation has put so much pressure on the court, and it is our hope and prayer that the Presidency will act very quickly on those four justices who have been nominated and cleared from the Court of Appeal, waiting for the Presidency to give assent. If that is done, it will help to reduce pressure and stress from the justices that are presently serving. There is a need to sensitise the government to appoint more justices.
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