What can be responsible for the inexplicable delay by the Federal Government in appointing 14 new high court judges reportedly sent to the Presidency by the National Judicial Council (NJC) since November last year for elevation to the Federal Court of Appeal? This was the kernel of a three-page letter to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo.
Dated January 23, 2018, Chief Awomolo’s letter had urged the country’s chief law officer to ensure the urgent approval by President Muhammadu Buhari of the new appointees so they could resume work in the best interest of speedy and efficient administration of justice in the country.
There are reportedly 76 appeal court judges currently serving out of the original 85 in this cadre appointed in the 16 divisions of the Court of Appeal spread across the six geo-political zones of the country. The vacancies to be filled at this level of the judiciary arose as a result of deaths of some of the justices, retirements or the promotion of some of them to the Supreme Court over the last few years.
We find it curious that Chief Awomolo had to remind the AGF of the dire implications of shortage of jurists at the Court of Appeal, a situation responsible, for instance, for the congestion of cases in the various divisions of the court. Surely, the AGF ought to have been aware of the negative consequences of not speedily filling the vacancies without any prompting to be alert and alive to his responsibilities.
Chief Awomolo was only stating the obvious when he pointed out that the shortfall in the requisite number of appeal court judges was responsible for the delay in the adjudication of cases resulting in frustration both for lawyers and their clients. Indeed, the learned silk told the AGF that the situation had reached an unbearable point. In his words, “The process of approval of appointment, with respect, is a mere formality. In view of all these and the continual delay and frustration, we practitioners and our clients urge that you exercise the powers of your office to bring the delay and frustration of Nigerians to the approving authority so that approval of the candidates recommended to be appointed to the court can be given the attention it deserves”.
It would appear that the shortage of jurists is not limited to the Court of Appeal but is characteristic of other levels of the judiciary, particularly the state high courts as well as the magistracy across the country. This is partly responsible for the huge numbers of inmates awaiting trial who have been languishing in various prisons nationwide, with many of them exceeding the time they would have spent in incarceration had their cases been promptly decided and they had been convicted. Even more pathetic is the manifest injustice suffered by those who may eventually be found innocent after spending interminable years behind bars.
Quite apart from the antics of mischievous lawyers, the paucity of judicial officers at every level of the judicature is also one of the reasons why cases drag on for prolonged periods, bringing to mind the adage that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’. When we lack the requisite number of judicial officers at any level of the judicial hierarchy, the few jurists available are overworked with negative implications for their efficiency and the quality of their judgments.
We urge the AGF to act with dispatch as regards Chief Awomolo’s plea and ensure that the vacant appeal court slots are urgently filled. It is also high time that the President Buhari administration jettisons its leisurely and unhurried pace, particularly in filling the scores of critical vacancies across diverse sectors that it has left dormant almost three years after its assumption of office.
