The urgent appointment of extra Justices has been urged by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association in order to bring the Supreme Court’s total number of Justices up to 21, as required under Section 230(1)(B) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.With Justice Amina Augie’s recent retirement, there are now only 11 judges on the Supreme Court.
The association’s president, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, highlighted that the retirement of Justice Augie had increased the workload on the justices in a statement released on Tuesday by the NBA’s national publicity secretary, Akorede Lawal.
Maikyau also called for the amendment of the Constitution to reduce the cases that would be heard by the apex court.
The statement partly read, “The NBA President expressed concerns that 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.
“The NBA President noted that it has become imperative that the Nigerian Constitution be amended to increase the threshold for the number of justices to be appointed to the Supreme Court and to reduce the number of matters that get to the Supreme Court by limiting the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to certain constitutional matters.”
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The NBA president also disclosed that the association had been in talks with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the National Judicial Council over the remuneration of judicial officers.
“The NBA President stated that President Bola Tinubu has directed a presidential working group to harmonise the recommendations from RMAFC, NBA, and NJC, with the view to include the outcome in the 2024 budget appropriation, ” the statement added.
He added that the NBA had also proposed Lifestyle Allowance, Dual Responsibility Allowance, Frequent Transfer Allowance, and Long Service Allowance in recognition of the peculiar demands of judicial office holders.
Maikyau stated that the NBA recommended the delinking of judicial remuneration from that of the civil service, to strengthen the independence of the judiciary.
Meanwhile, Maikyau has commiserated with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, over the fire incident at the Supreme Court complex on Monday.
“The incident which reportedly affected the chambers of some Justices calls into question the integrity and safety of courts’ infrastructures in Nigeria. The NBA has therefore called for an investigation into the incident to forestall future recurrence,” the statement added.
