NBA raises concern over depleting ranks of Supreme Court judges
Against the backdrop of recent retirement of Justice Amina Augie of the Supreme Court, call has again been intensified on the need to fill the vacant seats.
The Supreme Court now has 11 instead of 21 judges.
The press reports Challenges around docket, file congestions and quick dispensation of justice had before now been traced to the reduction.
However, while restating its demand recently, thepresident of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, SAN advocated for the immediate appointment of additional justices to achieve the full complement of 21 justices of the Supreme Court, as prescribed by Section 230(1 ) (B) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement made available to Blueprint on Tuesday by the NBA national secretariat.
In the statement, the legal body expressed worries that with the retirement of Justice Augie, the workload on the justices of the bench will increase.
Maikyau, who also called for the amendment of the constitution said it will help reduce the cases that would be heard by the apex court.
“The exit of Hon. Justice Augie from the Bench of the Supreme Court has further reduced the number of justices of this court, with the attendant increase in the workload of the already overworked/overburdened and, unfortunately, poorly remunerated justices,” he said.
