BY Unknown Tuesday, November 28, 2017 0
Elevation of judges to appeal court not lopsided –NJC 
  • Says 14 vacancies in appeal court filled by geographical spread
Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
The National Judicial Council said on Tuesday that its recommendation of elevation of 14 judges to the Court of Appeal was not lopsided, as alleged by some media reports.
Although the NJC, in a statement by its Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye, denied a list being circulated online as being the list of judges recommended for elevation to the Court of Appeal, it stated that the alleged lopsidedness was a figment of the authors’ imagination.
Despite denying the list being criculated, Oye, however, admitted that there were currently 14  vacancies on the Court of Appeal’s bench.
Oye also explained that the appointment of judicial officers to the Court of Appeal was done on merit and geographical spread, adding that South-East, which was allegedly excluded from the list of the elevated judges, had 13 out of the total of 76 Justices currently serving on the Court of Appeal bench.
He stated that, of the 76 justices of the court, the North Central (with six states and the Federal Capital Territory) has 12 justices; North-East has 12 justices and the president; North-West has nine Justices; South-East  has 13 justices; South-South has 14 justices and South-West has 15 justices.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to an on-line publication and some newspapers alleging that the National Judicial Council recommended 14 judges for appointment to the Court of Appeal, and that none of the candidates shortlisted was from the South-East.
“This allegation is nothing but a figment of the imagination of the on-line, media as the exercise is on-going and no candidate has been recommended so far.
“To put the records straight, appointment of judicial officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.
Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of Justices of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of Justices to be appointed should not be more than 90, plus the president.
“In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately presented, all states that have three serving justices were not considered unless under special circumstances.”
He also listed 12 states not considered for the 14 vacancies on the Court of Appeal bench.
“The states are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.
“States like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation, which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.
“Appointments are made to the court, based on the elevation of Appeal Court justices to the Supreme Court, retirement at the age of 70 years, or death.
“Such vacancies are filled with judicial officers from the zone of the judge who died, retired or elevated.
“It is therefore unfair for the online media to claim that the National Judicial Council recommended no candidate from the South-East, which currently has 13 justices at the Court of Appeal.”
Oye also enjoined journalists “to always balance their reports to avoid litigation.”
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
at