CJN to inaugurate 12 justices for appeal court

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, will inaugurate 22 new justices of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.

The inauguration will significantly raise the number of the court’s serving justices to 88, up from its current 66.

A statement by the Supreme Court’s Director of Press, Festus Akande, said on Tuesday that the swearing-in ceremony of the 12 new justices will take place at 10 a.m. at the Main Courtroom of the Supreme Court in Abuja.

The appointees were all elevated from the High Court benches of various states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The appointees with their various states of origin include Abdullahi Muhammad Liman (Nasarawa State), Abiodun Azeem Akinyemi (Ogun State), Olukayode Adeniyi (Oyo State), Zainab Bage Abubakar (Kebbi State), Isaq Mohammed Sani (Kaduna State), Lateef Babajide Lawal-Akapo (Lagos State), and Ngozika U. Okaisabor (Imo State).

They also include Donatus Nwaezuoke Okorowo (Enugu State), Ruqayat Oremei Ayoola (Kogi State), Polycarp Terna Kwahar (Benue State), Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike (Rivers State), and Fadawa Umaru (Borno State).

The rest are Oyewumi Oyejoju Oyebiola (Oyo State), and Ntong Festus Ntong (Akwa Ibom State), Nehizena Idemudia Afolabi (Edo State), and Nnamdi Okwy Dimgba (Abia State). The list continues with Abdu Dogo (FCT, Abuja), Abdulazeez M. Anka (Zamfara State), Owibunkeonye Onwosi (Ebonyi State), Asma’u Akanbi-Yusuf (Kwara State), Victoria Toochukwu Nwoye (Anambra State), and Enenche Eleojo (Kogi State).

The Court of Appeal, which ranks behind the Supreme Court as the second highest court in Nigeria, sits panels in 21 divisions scattered across various sates and the FCT.

Already, the CJN has been billed to swear in 12 new judges of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Abuja, at the same time and venue.

Recommendation and confirmation

This inauguration of new judges of both the Court of Appeal and the FCT High Court followed the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) in May.

During NJC’s 105th meeting held on the 15 and 16 of May, the council’s Interview Committee on the Appointment of Judicial Officers of all Superior Courts of Record in Nigeria recommended 86 candidates for appointment to the benches of various federal and state courts. Twenty-two of these candidates were for the Court of Appeal.

The council reviewed the committee’s report and recommended the 22 candidates as Justices of the Court of Appeal. The council also recommended the other candidates for appointment as judges of the High Court of the FCT, the High Courts, the Sharia Courts of Appeal, and the Customary Courts of Appeal of various states.

The swearing-in of the recommended candidates follows the approval of the President for federal courts or state governors for state courts.