Onofiok Luke, a former lawmaker, has called for the
appointment of more judges to the supreme court to take the tally to 21
justices, which is the maximum.
The apex court currently has 12 justices after the death of
Chima Nweze on Saturday.
Nweze died on Saturday at the age of 64 after a brief
illness.
While condoling with the judiciary and Nweze’s family over the death of the jurist, Luke in a statement on Wednesday, expressed concern about the “over-spending workload” the apex court justices are exposed to.
“It is worth
emphasising that the supreme court of Nigeria adjudicates over matters from
different parts of the country,” Luke said.
“In view of its overstretched nature, some matters have
lingered in the court for over 20 years. All reasonable efforts to limit
matters that get to the court, as it is obtained in other climes, have proven
abortive.
“More worrying is the fact that despite the overstretched
nature of the supreme court, the court is yet to attain its full complement of
21 justices.
“Disturbingly, two
justices of the court will be retiring in a matter of months. This leaves the
court terribly short-handed and unable to optimally perform its adjudicatory
functions, and more importantly, execute its policy-setting goal.
“The situation is worsened given that this is a
post-election season when the services of the court are often called upon. The
effects of this unwholesome situation are unquantifiable.”
The former lawmaker noted that while the situation slows
down the administration of justice, “it may also reduce the quality of justice
delivery to the people as the court lacks the needed and adequate manpower to
thoroughly consider matters before it”.
“It is imperative that the necessary stakeholders in the
Nigerian project intervene to safe the judiciary, and indeed, the country,” he
said.
“The judiciary is an
important accompaniment to democracy, and anything that affects its smooth
functioning affects Nigeria.
“It is in this vein that I plead with the president, his
excellency, President Asiwaju Tinubu, given his record as a democrat, to
intervene and approve the appointment of new justices to the court to meet its
full complement of 21 justices.
“This will no doubt ease justice delivery and position the
court to meet its core functions, and save the current justices from
unnecessary stress.”
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