President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, urged the National Judicial Council, NJC, to consider and appoint qualified, experienced and diligent private legal practitioners to both the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court.
President Tinubu maintained that selecting qualified lawyers to fill all the vacant seats on the bench of the two superior courts would further strengthen the nation’s judiciary.
He spoke at the opening ceremony of the All Nigerian Judges Conference of the Superior Courts, which was held at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja.
While flagging off the five-day conference, President Tinubu flayed what he described as “myopic criticisms and attacks” on the judiciary by those who lost political and electoral cases.
He said the judiciary had over the years performed excellently to creditably retain the status of the last hope of the common man.
President Tinubu, whose speech was read by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, said his administration was determined to improve the welfare of judicial officers in the country.
He said: “While the Nigerian judiciary is not immune from certain challenges, it has, however, surmounted these limitations to creditably retain the status of both the last hope of the common man and the bastion of rule of law and democracy.
“The Nigerian judiciary has indeed evolved from the colonial days, through the rich history of contemporary worthy status today. While there may be misgivings here and there, we cannot begin to imagine what our country would have been subjected to if there was no judiciary.
“I am proud of the accomplishments of our judiciary in the cause of nation-building, both locally and on the global scene.
“Through a gamut of landmark judgments, the judiciary has continued to maintain the cause of rule of law in Nigeria and strengthen our democratic processes and institutions.
“I wish to observe that in the cause of demonstrating this commitment to the advancement of the rule of law and democracy, especially in political and electoral cases, the judiciary has come under myopic criticism and attacks.
“On many occasions, the judiciary has come to the rescue by intervening to safeguard democratic processes and preserve or restore the wishes of the electorate.
“The judiciary should not be blamed for the failing of the political class. We, as actors, must learn not to portray or analyse the judiciary from the narrow prism that is solely based on our political interests only.
“As a patriotic citizen and President, I am not oblivious of the challenges hampering the commitment of the judiciary to deepening the rule of law and democracy.
“Some of the challenges as identified by the National Judicial Council include; inefficiency and gaps within the process of appointment of judicial officers; lack of transparency and accountability in the judicial process and administration of justice.
“The need to improve and sustain the capacity of Superior Courts to promote and protect the rule of law; delay in justice delivery; the perception that the judiciary may not be able to sustain its independence and concerns about the quality of judgments and inadequacy of resources needed for the judiciary to provide efficient administration of justice in the 21st century.
“One of the cardinal items on our renewed hope agenda under my leadership is our commitment to drive the judiciary to achieve sustainable socio-economic growth and investment facilitated by the rule of law, as well as to reverse the negative rating and address the challenges militating against judicial development.
“In view of the fact that the judiciary is self-regulating, we expect the judiciary to demonstrate that charity indeed begins at home.
“Like caesar’s wife, the judiciary must remain above board. The Biennial All Judges Conference is an avenue to interrogate and chart a way forward for the judiciary to fully attain its pride of place in promoting socio-economic and political development in the country.
“It is trite that knowledge is power. I, therefore, charge the institute as the intellectual arm of the judiciary to ensure that the Nigeria judiciary does not falter in its commitment to the cause of nation-building and to ensure that the national judicial policy is holistically implemented and kept in tune with global best practices.
“Our economic transformation is not just in the hands of the Executive alone. The judiciary has a significant role to play in this transformation journey.
“It is the judiciary alone that can build the confidence of investors that commercial disputes can be resolved fairly and speedily and in a manner that preserves and improves their investment.
“Such a realization alone will significantly improve our position to be an investment destination. I seize this opportunity to make one sentence on the appointment of private legal practitioners into our appellate courts.
“Considering the constitutional provisions in practice in other jurisdictions, I am of the strong view that in order to further strengthen our appellate court, qualified, experienced and diligent private legal practitioners should be considered for appointment to both the Appeal and Supreme Court, as the nation will benefit from this.
“I renew my commitment and affirm that I will discharge all my obligations to the judiciary regardless. I look forward to contributing my quota to the improvement of the welfare of judicial officers.
“I have directed the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to review its previous unacceptable recommendation of 114 percent increase in the remuneration of judicial officers and come up with a more realistic rate that will reflect the present economic reality.
“I am optimistic that the process will be concluded as soon as possible, making the judiciary independent as I have done elsewhere.
“I assure you that it will be done here, just be a little patient,” President Tinubu added.
In his remarks, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, said the conference affords the judiciary the opportunity to assess the progress it made throughout the year and to evaluate how well it was able to discharge the onerous task placed on it as the arbiter of justice and custodian of the rule of law.
“Although as judicial officers, it is imperative that we constantly strive to attain a high standard of excellence and ensure that the strength of our character is at best, unimpeachable, one fact that is glaring but ironically overlooked is the fact that Judges are humans too!
“What this implies is that we are neither flawless nor precluded from making occasional errors.
“Consequently, as we take stock, it is of the utmost importance that we do so dispassionately and objectively to enable us to effectively achieve the second purpose of the Conference which entails mapping out strategies, cross-fertilizing ideas, and eliciting definitive decisions, necessary for steering the Judiciary forward in the coming year,” the CJN added.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, in his goodwill message at the opening ceremony, disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the construction of a new Court of Appeal complex in Abuja, which he said must be completed within 15 months.
The FCT Minister added that Houses would also be constructed for both Judges of the Abuja High Court and Magistrates.
“Judges of the Federal High Court in Abuja and the Court of Appeal will also be given new quarters,” Wike added.
In his welcome address, the Administrator of the NJI, Justice Salisu Abdullahi, said he was optimistic that the conference, which has the theme: ‘Strengthening Judicial Commitments To The Rule Of Law And Democracy,’ will afford judges and justices “the opportunity to recharge, recalibrate and re-strategize.”
“The All Nigerian Judges’ Conference of the Superior Courts is a tactical and all-important engagement which holds significant purposes for all and sundry.
“For My Lords, it is first and foremost a reunion of sorts since it presents an opportunity to come together as a unified whole.
“Accordingly, this convergence aids a three-pronged agenda which I like to call the three A’s- Acclaim, Appraise, and Advance,” Justice Abdullahi added.
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