According to a declaration by its Deputy Director (Information), Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, on Wednesday, the NJC acknowledged the notifications at its 112th conference hung on 3 November.
According to the declaration, the council, chaired by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, got notifications of 6 retirements and 9 deaths of judges.
The list is comprised of judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court in addition to the High Courts and the Customary Courts of Appeal of numerous states.
2 of the notifications revealed the retirements of 2 Supreme Court justices within a period of less than 2 months.
Ibrahim Saulawa, who signed up with the Supreme Court bench in November 2020, currently retired on 29 September, signing up with the roll of 103 previous justices of Nigeria’s greatest court.
Uwani Musa Abba Aji, raised to the Supreme Court bench in January 2019, will do the same on Saturday, 7 November.
It suggests that, by Saturday, the Supreme Court bench will be 2 justices except its complete enhance of 21, which the court gained back just in February with the inauguration of Olubunmi Oyewole.
4 other retirement notifications the NJC acknowledged at its conference on Tuesday consisted of Justice O. F. Omoleye of the Court of Appeal, who retired on 6 October.
Other retiring or currently retired judges are Ogechi Okehielem, Abia State High Court, willingly retired on 15 September, Theresa Isidore Obot of Akwa Ibom State High Court, due to retire willingly on 30 December, Munir Muhammad Ladan of the Kaduna State High Court due to retire willingly on 31 December.
Deaths
The council likewise acknowledged notifications of the deaths of 9 judges.
Accordign to the NJC, the judges died in between 1 May and 26 September.
They consist of Mohammed Nasir Yunusa of the Federal High Court, Kano Division; Sambo Sammy Daka of the Kaduna State High Court; Josephine Efunkumbi Oyefeso of the Lagos State High Court, and Musa Mohammed Dallah, Nasarawa State High Court.
Others are Bello Muhammed Shinkafi of the Zamfara State High Court, Edem Nyong Okokon of the Cross River State High Court, Aliyu Mani Yauri, a kadi of the Kebbi State Sharia Court of Appeal, Dorothy Sim Inwulale of the Kaduna State Customary Court of Appeal, and Legor Torbira Senewo of the Rivers State Customary Court of Appeal.
Gratitude and acknowledgements
The NJC “revealed extensive gratitude” to the retired and retiring judicial officers “for their devoted and meritorious service to the Judiciary and the country”.
It likewise “extended its sincere acknowledgements to the households of the departed judges, the judiciary and the Nigerian legal neighborhood, and wished the serene repose of their souls.
About complete enhance of Supreme Court bench
The Nigerian constitution offers for a complete enhance of 21 justices for the Supreme Court, a complete enhance stayed evasive for years till 2024.
For years, justices’ deaths, retirements (consisting of voluntary ones), a complex consultation procedure, and an absence of dedication from the executive arm of federal government made it difficult for the Supreme Court to obtain its complete enhance.
The court reached its complete enhance for the very first time in its history months after the variety of its serving justices had actually decreased to a lowest level of 10 in 2023.
The number jumped to the complete enhance of 21 on 26 February 2024 with the elevation of 11 justices to the Supreme Court bench in one fell swoop.
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Once again, it dropped to 20 in August that year following the retirement of CJN Olukayode Ariwoola. It rebounded to its complete enhance of 21 with the elevation of Mr Oyewole to the Supreme Court bench in February this year.
At Mr Oyewole’s inauguration on 25 February, the CJN, Ms Kekere-Ekun, who administered the oaths to him, explained the achievement of the Supreme Court’s complete enhance as “no little turning point.”
“A complete court boosts our capability to being in robust panels, to handle our docket more effectively.
“It will guarantee that business of the country’s peak court continues with restored vigour and dispatch. It enhances intellectual variety, and enhances the stability of our jurisprudence.
“For a court whose declarations form the legal fate of the country, mathematical efficiency is structurally considerable to the reliable discharge of our constitutional mandate.,” she stated.
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