Lawyers set agenda for Kekere-Ekun

On Monday, September 30, 2024, President Bola Tinubu swore in Nigeria’s 23rd Chief Justice, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, making her the second woman to hold this prestigious position.

She was appointed at a time when public trust in the judiciary was at a historic low, with issues like delayed justice, corruption, and conflicting court judgments undermining the institution’s reputation.

In her inaugural speech, Justice Kekere-Ekun laid out her vision for reforming the judiciary, addressing concerns that had plagued the system for years.

During her confirmation hearing, she proposed a bold reform agenda, including limiting pre-election cases from reaching the Supreme Court, introducing full digitalisation of court processes, and tightening the criteria for appointing judges.

Justice Kekere-Ekun also pledged to tackle the widespread abuse of exparte orders and the issuance of conflicting judgments.

 She declared during the swearing-in of 87 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria on the same day, “This is a new dawn and a new era in the Nigerian judiciary.

“We are committed to working more diligently to improve public perception of the judiciary.”

While many applauded her intentions, legal experts have expressed praise and caution, calling for broader reforms beyond pre-election cases and ex-parte orders.

Urgency of rebuilding trust

A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), stressed the need for swift reforms to rebuild public confidence.

“The new CJN must work very hard to rebuild trust in the judiciary, which has sadly declined,” he noted.

He insisted that the judiciary’s outdated systems needed a complete overhaul.

Agbakoba pointed out that cases often drag on for decades, making the system unattractive to investors.

“It can take up to 20 years for cases to crawl up to the Supreme Court. How can anyone, especially investors, have confidence in that?”

Agbakoba advised Justice Kekere-Ekun to focus on introducing a ‘Speed of Justice’ programme to accelerate case resolution.

He said the first task was to create a speedy justice programme.

According to him, the courts need new rules of procedure as the current rules are a modified version of the English rules in England just under 100 years ago.

He added that  courts should never close, so that claimants could file cases at any time.

“The courts need new rules of procedure that empower judges to work efficiently. Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.

According to him, to achieve a new modern and operating model is not necessarily by appointment of a bench of new Judges, as in the capacity and productivity of one Judge.

“Judges must be enabled by transformational rules of procedure to work 24/7. The courts never close. A claimant may file an action at midnight.

“A Judge must have what is called case management powers to deal with cases expeditiously with the fundamental objective of speed and to give a result to court users,” he said.

 Agbakoba maintained that the introduction of modern tools of rules of procedure would change the face of our courts.

“The only Chief Justice of Nigeria that created the momentum for transformation, was the late Dahiru Musdapher. May God rest his soul.

“I was his assistant so I speak first hand. Unfortunately, the tenure of CJN Musdapher was only six months. I recommend the Musdapher report to the present CJN,” he said.

Leading by example

Another senior lawyer, Wahab Shittu (SAN), expressed confidence in Justice Kekere-Ekun’s leadership, but predicted that her tenure would be marked by ‘radical and transformative changes’ in the judiciary.

“CJN Kekere-Ekun will lead by stellar example. Her leadership will usher in a regime of zero tolerance for corruption and impunity.

“I am confident that it will no longer be business as usual. Her leadership will whip the entirety of the Bench and Bar into line,” Shittu remarked.

He expected her to improve the efficiency of the courts and reform the judiciary’s ethical standards.

“The quality of professional standards will rise as her leadership raises integrity and discipline in the judiciary,” he said.

Shittu said that her leadership would foster zero tolerance for corruption and impunity, improving the efficiency of courts at all levels.

According to him, “His Lordship will lead by example, My Lord will lead from the front. His Lordship’s leadership will whip the entirety of the bench and the bar into line.

“We look forward to a regime of not only zero tolerance for corruption but zero tolerance for a culture of impunity.

“Cases at all levels of the judex will be fast-tracked. The registries of our Supreme Court will be sanitised and overhauled to forestall delays.

“The disciplinary enhancement proceedings and mechanisms at the level of the NJC under His Lordship’s watch will improve drastically. Ethical standards will improve at all levels phenomenally.

“The quality of professional standards will rise as His Lordship is poised to raise integrity and discipline in the judiciary.

“Justice delivery will receive a boost with the increased development of technology and digitalisation,” he stated.

Shittu also revealed her commitment to the welfare and training of judges, stressing the importance of ethical standards and professional integrity.

“Under her watch, judges will be empowered to act with greater self-discipline and self-restraint,” he said.

He maintained that the CJN, would assert judicial independence and punish judicial infractions.

He said, “Training and retraining of judicial officers and personnel will receive a significant boost as the activities of the National Judicial Institute gain momentum. And conflicting orders by our courts will reduce drastically.”

He said he expected the CJN, to implement the outcomes of the National Judicial summits in terms of far-reaching reforms in the judiciary.

“I expect that several panels of the Supreme Court will be constituted to fast-track proceedings and prompt disposal of cases at the Supreme Court.

“Judgments will be released immediately while appellate appeals accelerated. Above all, I expect that our judges will exhibit a greater degree of self-discipline, self– restraint and self-control.

“I expect all stakeholders in the administration of justice to cooperate and collaborate with His Lordship to succeed.

“The golden era of our Judiciary will return as justice is served to all.”

While speaking about the pre-election matters, Shirts said he endorsed the CJN’s views that pre-election cases should terminate at the court of appeal.

“I endorse CJN Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s views that election litigations should terminate at the court of appeal.

“The clear rationale for this is that the Supreme Court is already overburdened with electoral and other matters.

“It makes a lot of sense to reduce the volume of traffic of cases coming to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court already has obligations to clear its docket regarding backlog of cases spanning several years awaiting resolution.

“Conflicting Judgments of courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction are a recipe for confusion and uncertainty.

“Judicial pronouncements ought to reflect certainty and predictability on similar facts and similar issues for resolution.

“This will deliver certainty around the business climate and enhance foreign direct investment in response to confidence and certainty in the law,” he said.

On exparte orders, he said it ought to be regulated to forestall its abuse.

“Justice is best served when all parties to proceedings have the opportunity of being heard on the merits.

“In many cases, exparte orders are prone to abuses leading to erosion of confidence. It is necessary that a mechanism is put in place to regulate the issuance of exparte orders,” he added.

Another lawyer, Vincent Adodo,  lauded the CJN, saying the judicial reforms proposed by the new CJN were timely and darely needed at this time especially when the confidence of the public in the judicial and legal system generally had waned considerably, especially in the last few years.

Adodo stated that it was very apposite at this time that the issue of the overloaded jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was being addressed.

“It is a welcome development, it will require the amendment of the relevant provisions of Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

“The successful introduction of this reform will reduce the pressure on the docket of the Supreme Court and also allow the Court to focus more on the determination of cases non-political cases which affect a larger number of the citizens of Nigeria,” he said.

Beyond the pre-election appeals, Adodo urged the new CJN, to also consider pursuing reforms that would reduce the jurisdictional burden on the Supreme Court.

According to him, it is no longer news that it takes an average of ten years to have an appeal determined at the Supreme Court.

He lamented that this very abnormal situation was not unconnected with the larger-than-life compass of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under section 233 of the 1999 Constitution, which allowed the Court to entertain all manner of appeals from the Court of Appeal including appeals on a magistrate court case bordering on the determination of who stole a dog.

“Some cases should end at the Court of Appeal. For instance, tenancy cases which usually commence from the Magistrates or District Courts have no business ending up at the Supreme Court.

“This then brings one to the next point regarding the need to tame the tiger of conflicting judgments.

“The delivery of conflicting judgments by courts has exposed the judiciary to ridicule and made the job of lawyers more difficult.

“It is gratifying that the CJN has immediately identified what appears to be a lasting solution to the issue which is the digitalisation of Courts,” he said.

Adodo suggested that the abuse of exparte orders especially in political cases must be immediately dealt with.

“It is very scandalous that in this country, exparte orders have been issued to bar a member of a political party from attending the meeting of his party or bar him from parading himself as a member of a party in which he is duly registered as a member.

“In some of these cases, one can hardly fathom the real urgency that could justify the grant of such orders.

“However, it must be said that the CJN must be mindful to not take away completely the powers of courts to issue exparte orders, the reforms should focus mainly on preventing its abuse and where there is no real urgency disclosed in a matter, the judge should order the party seeking the order to put his adversaries on notice,” he said.

Challenges Ahead

Despite the optimism surrounding her appointment, some legal experts cautioned that Justice Kekere-Ekun would encounter significant challenges.

On his part, Dr Yemi Omodele pointed out that entrenched interests within the judiciary might seek to undermine her reforms.

“Corruption is a major problem in our country. If the CJN wants to succeed, she must be prepared to fight it head-on and remove those who would sabotage her plans,” Omodele remarked.

He also called for a merit-based system in appointing judges, noting that connections often influence who got elevated to the bench.

“The era of appointing judges based on who they know, rather than their qualifications, must end. Only competent individuals should serve in these roles if we are to tackle issues like conflicting judgments and ex-parte orders,” he added.

Another lawyer, Babatunde Ademoye, described the reforms as “long overdue” but stressed that their success would depend on the support of the National Judicial Council.

“The CJN cannot do it alone. She will need the NJC and other legal bodies to back these much-needed changes,” he said.