THE National Judicial Council (NJC) on Tuesday said the report that the Council has recommended 14 Judges for appointment to the Court of Appeal, with no candidate from the South-Eastern region of the country was a figment of the imagination of the on-line media and the newspapers that published the story.
A statement by the Director, Information of the NJC, Soji Oye said that the short-listing exercise is on-going and that no candidate has been recommended so far.
The NJC statement said that, appointment of Judicial Officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.
According to the NJC spokesman, “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.
“The Court however, currently has 76 Justices leaving a vacancy for additional 14 Justices.
“Of the 76 Justices of the Court, the North Central with 6 States and FCT has 12 Justices; North-East with 6 States has 12 Justices plus the President; North-West with 7 States has 9 Justices; South-East with 5 States has 13 Justices; South-South with 6 States has 14 Justices and South-West with 6 States has 15 Justices”, the statement added.
It further said that, in considering an appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately presented, all States that have 3 serving Justices were not considered unless under special circumstances.
The States not considered are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.
Oye said that states like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.
He said, 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 and added that 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 pointed out in the statement made available to newsmen yesterday evening.
He advised Journalists to always balance their report to avoid litigation.
and then