Questions Raised Over Highly Rated Senior Justices Dropped From Priority In Supreme Court List

The recent nomination of 22 justices for appointment to the Supreme Court by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has sparked controversy within the judiciary.

According to judicial sources, some senior serving and retired justices are unhappy with the list, claiming the process has been overly politicized. They highlighted a few cases as particularly contentious.

In the North-Central zone, the son of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) was placed as priority while a more experienced Appeal Court justice with over 15 years experience was listed as reserve.

Additionally, in the South-South zone, the candidate rated most qualified was surprisingly placed as reserve instead of priority. The said justice was previously the priority nominee in 2019 but was considered too young then at 53. The justification for the reserve placement after four years remains unclear.

Some justices also questioned the dropping of Justice AB Gumel from the North-West list despite being ranked first in his zone. And in the South-West, a junior justice with no previous shortlisting was made priority over a 2019 reserve nominee.

The discontent over the nomination process risks worsening morale and causing further divisions in the judiciary if not addressed, the sources warned.

However, legal academic Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George SAN commended the FJSC list as comprising mainly excellent candidates. He noted that while human error may have occurred, he would score the list 99.9%.

The NJC and CJN’s office assured that the list is still subject to a rigorous selection process. The NJC conducts interviews and is not mandated to adopt the FJSC priority list. The best 11 justices will ultimately be recommended to the President from the 22 nominees.

The FJSC had forwarded 6 priority and 6 reserve candidates each from the South-East and North-Central zones, 2 priority and 2 reserve candidates each from the South-West, South-South and North-East, and 4 priority and 2 reserve candidates from the North-West.

List of 22 Justices nominated for appointment at Supreme Court:

SOUTH-EAST

1. Hon Justice Nwaoma Uwa (Abia State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Onyekachi Otisi (Abia State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Obande Ogbuinya (Ebonyi State) – Priority 2A. Hon Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua (Imo State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Anthony Ogakwu (Enugu State) – Priority 3A. Hon Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (Imo State) – Reserve

SOUTH-SOUTH

1. Hon Justice Moore Adumein (Bayelsa State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Biobele Georgewill (Rivers State) – Reserve

SOUTH-WEST

1. Hon Justice Adewale Abiru (Lagos State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (Osun State) – Reserve

NORTH-CENTRAL

1. Hon Jummai Sankey (Plateau State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo (Plateau) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi State) – Priority 2A. Hon Justice Ridman Maiwada Abdullahi (Nassarawa State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Baba Idris (Niger State) – Priority 3A. Hon Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Benue State) – Reserve

NORTH-EAST

1. Hon Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Bauchi State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Abubakar Talba (Adamawa State)

NORTH-WEST

1. Hon Justice Muhammad Lawal Shuaibu (Jigawa State) – Priority 1A. Hon Justice Bello Aliyu (Zamfara State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar (Kebbi State) – Priority 2A. Hon Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero (Kano State) – Reserve