Nigerian Senate Initiates Bill To Increase Supreme Court Justices From 21 To 33, Citing Backlog Of Pending Cases
A process to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices from its current 21 to 33 members has commenced at the Red Chambers.
The Bill sponsored by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia-North) was, yesterday, introduced as the third business of the day during plenary by Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, and it passed first reading as ratified by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In the proposed amendment, section 230 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution will be amended by deleting ‘21’ and inserting ‘33’ number of Justices.
Dr. Kalu’s motive is borne out of the need to effectively dispense with the avalanche of pending cases in the apex court.
His explanatory memorandum read: “This Bill seeks to amend S. 230 2(b) of 1999 Constitution to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 21 Justices to 33 Justices for speedy and effective dispensation of pending cases.”
According to the Chairman Senate Committee on Privatisation, the workload of the Supreme Court Justices has increased due to the number of pending and incoming cases, adding that the absence of Supreme Courts in states and regions has worsened the situation.
Furthermore the House of Representatives has commenced a process to increase the number of Appeal Court Justices to 150 which implies that there is also a need to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices because there will be an increased number of cases emanating from the appeal court which the Supreme Court will need to deal with.
