Senate confirms appointment of 11 new Supreme Court justices

The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the appointment of the 11 new justices of the Supreme Court, and with the Thursday confirmation, the Supreme Court now has its full complement of 21 justices as mandated by law.

Penpushing reports that Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, announced their confirmation after they were cleared through a voice vote by the senators at the plenary, and they include Justices Haruna Tsammani (North-east) who chaired the Presidential Election Petition Court, Moore Adumein (South-south), Jummai Sankey (North-central), Chidiebere Uwa (South-east) and Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (South-east)

The appointees also include Justices Obande Ogbuinya (South-east), Stephen Adah (North-central), Habeeb Abiru (South-west), JJamilu Tukur (North-West), Abubakar Umar (North-west) and Mohammed Idris (North-central).

Penpushing further reports that the justices were screened by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on Wednesday, while the screening exercise was referred to the committee by Akpabio after reading the nomination letter from President Bola Tinubu.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Mohammed Monguno representing Borno State under platform of All Progressives Congress (APC)submitted the report of the screening before their confirmation was announced on Thursday (today).

Penpushing also reports that Monguno explained that his committee received the curriculum vitae of the nominees and invited them for the exercise, adding that during the screening, the justices demonstrated competence of handling the dispensation of justice.

The committee chairman pointed out that the nomination and appointment satisfied the constitutional provision of section 231 (3), which states that an individual needs 15 years’ experience on the bar to be qualified for the Supreme Court justice.

Penpushing reports that Monguno said there were no petitions or criminal records against the nominees, emphasizing that the committee members were satisfied with the nomination of the justices and, therefore, recommended their confirmation.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin in his submission commended the committee for successfully conducting the screening, and equally called on the lawmakers to support the confirmation of the nominees.

Penpushing further reports that Senator Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress (APC, Plateau South) in similar vein commended the committee for conducting the screening and urged the Senate to confirm their appointments.

The immediate past Senate President Senator Ahmed Lawan on his part  called on the National Assembly and the Presidency to improve the funding of the judiciary, stressing that the time has come for both the legislature and the executive to give the judiciary more financial attention

‘The time has come for both the legislature and the executive to give the Judiciary more financial attention, we should give them resources. I know we can do something, let us give them more resources so that we can hold them accountable when they do not perform’, Lawan said.

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