.png)
2 hours ago
4
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Wednesday admitted that the Supreme Court is burdened by a plethora of cases it ordinarily has no business with, noting that such matters delay the work of the apex court.
She said so many of such cases should terminate at the Court of Appeal in order to give the Supreme Court the space to adjudicate on more fundamental matters, particularly policy issues.
Kekere-Ekun, who was speaking while being screened for confirmation by the Senate in Abuja, specifically cited “pre-election matters” and “interlocutory injunctions,” among others, which the CJN insisted ought to terminate at the Court of Appeal.
The President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, presided over the exercise.
Kekere-Ekun, Nigeria’s 23rd CJN and the second female appointed for the job, argued that the apex court was always pressed by time, using a 90-day window to dispense with cases.
He noted that a situation where much of the time was used to delay its work by sending all manner of cases before it slowed down the critical decisions it had to take on major policy matters.
“The Supreme Court is a policy court where very rare legal issues require a pronouncement by the Supreme Court.
“I am of the view that many matters should terminate at the court of appeal, especially interlocutory matters,” she told the senators, adding, “Pre-election matters should terminate at the court of appeal and all other matters that are not policy matters.”
Kekere-Ekun was not disposed to the idea of increasing the number of justices on the bench of the apex court to allow it to accommodate more such frivolous cases.
She explained that the fact remained that people would still abuse the process, believing that there were more justices to take on the cases. She insisted that a matter that should not come before the Supreme Court should not come before it.
She had a piece of advice for politicians, urging them to play politics by the rules in following due process during elections, which the CJN said would drastically cut down on the number of needless matters going all the way to the Supreme Court.
On corruption and the integrity of judicial officers, the CJN assured Nigerians that she would enforce discipline by ensuring that the National Judicial Council (NJC) penalised errant officers.
“I am known for being strict on discipline. I will ensure full compliance with the code of conduct and have zero tolerance for corruption.”
Kekere-Ekun added that the NJC would regularly assess the conduct of judges and all other actions taken by judicial officers, including speedily dispensing petitions questioning the integrity of officers.
However, to further protect the integrity of judicial officers, the CJN suggested that the courts must be “insulated from external influence” by the government looking after the welfare of judges promptly.
She pointed out that one of such measure was the recent decision by President Bola Tinubu to increase the salaries and allowances of judicial officers.
“However, we have to also improve on available infrastructure for work. I will still be pushing for better welfare for judicial officers,” she stated.
Kekere-Ekun also gave her stance on several other issues, including awaiting trials, congestion of correctional centres, interim injunctions, exparte motions, social media influence, and interferences with the courts by state governors, assuring that her tenure would tackle those challenges to enhance the quick dispensing of justice.
The Senate, having screened the nominee, proceeded to confirm her appointment as the CJN.
President Tinubu had forwarded her name to the Senate in a letter read to lawmakers on Tuesday by Akpabio.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
English (US) ·