CJN declares more openings on Supreme Court bench, redistributes vacant slots to regions

The Chief Justice of Nigeria , Olukayode Ariwoola, has declared two additional slots on the Supreme Court bench vacant, bringing the total number of the openings up for grab to 10., to kickstart an appointment process aimed at bringing the court to its full complement of 21 justices.from 20 in November 2020 to 13 since August 2022, leaving the court’s bench severely depleted amid a mounting workload.

Mr Maikyau said in his mail to lawyers that he received Mr Ariwoola’s fresh letter dated 19 June, “which superseded the earlier letter of 14 June 2023,” requesting him “as President of the Nigerian Bar Association, to nominate suitably qualified candidates to be recommended for appointment to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.”

Attempts by PREMIUM TIMES to have the Supreme Court’s spokesperson, Festus Akande, shed light on the new development did not succeed, as he was not available to take his calls on Friday. Currently, South-west has three slots on the bench, South-south two; and South-east one. While the North-central has one, the North-west and the North-east have three each.It means that without any addition to the bench, by the end of October, the North-central will have no representative on the Supreme Court bench, while the North-west’s slots will drop to two.

For the northern zones, the North-central’s slots will rise from zero to three; the North-west’s from three to four, and the North-east’s also from three to four.But achieving a Supreme Court with its full complement of 21 justices will be an unprecedented feat. The closet the court has achieved is 20.

Arguing that competence should be criterium for such appointments, Mr Okpoko said the Supreme Court at Nigeria’s independence was filled by five justices who hailed from the Igbo and Yoruba ethnic groups.The appointment process starts with the Federal Judicial Service Commission which will process the list of nominees by assessing the candidates.

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