In anticipation of post election suits, senior lawyers have expressed concern over the depleting number of justices of the Supreme Court from the prescribed maximum of 21, saying the appointment of justices of the apex court would have to be expedited.
After the retirement of Justice Abdu Aboki on August 5, 2022, the number of justices on the Supreme Court bench dropped to an inadequate 13.
This has led to several calls from the legal quarters and from the Chief Justice himself urging the appointment of qualified judges to fill in the gaping vacancies. Yet nothing visible has changed in that regard.
In the last few months alone, following events arising from the electioneering season, the courts had been inundated with many suits going to fewer hands.
Expressing concern over the matter, lawyers have said that beyond the current issue, the decline poses a threat to the timeous and effective administration of justice in post election cases in 2023.
Speaking to our correspondent on the issue, a lawyer, Kunle Adegoke SAN, said the appointment of justices of the supreme court will have to be expedited.
He said, “There are many justices of the court of the appeal that have long been qualified to be elevated to the supreme court. But unfortunately the process has been so slow that it has not been completed for a long time.
“Many have been on the waiting list for quite some time now. So if those justices of the court of appeal are elevated, it will reduce the pressure and will increase the number of hands available to handle the judicial process at the level of the Supreme Court.
“He also noted that “some distinguished legal practitioners have applied to join the court of appeal and the supreme court. These are patriots who are looking for the opportunities to serve the nation more. When such individuals are elevated to join the apex court, this will reduce the pressure on their Lordships and there will be enough room for them to give full consideration to the cases before them.”
Continuing, the legal silk pointed out that apart from the appointment of new justices of the Supreme Court, there should be a stricter limitation on the nature of cases that could land at the Supreme Court to ease the workload.
He maintained that only heavy constitutional matters, huge contractual cases and serious criminal cases should be admitted to the apex court
“Asides from that, the sincerity that will reduce the number of cases going to the supreme court is needed. A situation where they are fighting over the annual rent of a room in Oshogbo that doesn’t cost up to five thousand naira should not get to the Supreme Court.
“Most of the matters that people fight from the high court to the Supreme Court , some of such cases shouldn’t even go as far as the court of appeal.
“So we need to carry out a lot of reforms to capture the appellate processes to ensure that they don’t congest the apex court and even the Court of Appeal itself.”
Similarly, Boma Alabi SAN, explained that the process of appointment should be fast tracked.
“The process can be prioritiSed and fast tracked in order to fill the vacancies timeously. There is no shortage of talent. We have competent and experienced jurists and some very brilliant minds on the bench. It’s simply a question of speeding up the process,” she surmised.
