The National Judicial Council on Friday recommended two High Court judges, Justice Francis Abosi, who is the Acting President, Imo State Customary Court of Appeal; and Justice Aliyu Liman of Bauchi State High Court, for compulsory retirement for various offences.
The council also it had set up a 10-man committee to determine how courts would be reopened despite the lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.
The council in a statement by the NJC’s Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye, said these were part of the resolutions reached at the 91st meeting of the council held online on Wednesday and Thursday.
The NJC, at the meeting presided by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the chairman of the council, Justice Tanko Muhammad, appointed Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour as the chairman of the 10-man committee expected to develop the strategies for the reopening of the courts.
Justice Rhodes-Vivour is the second most senior Justice of the Supreme Court and Vice Chairman of the NJC.
The CJN had on March 24 directed the shutdown of Nigerian courts as part of the measures to check the spread of COVID-19.
The NJC’s statement read, “The committee, inter-alia, has the following terms of reference: To come up with guidelines or template for implementation; to explore possible areas of collaboration between the Judiciary and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, stakeholders in the justice administration and development partners in justice administration sector; and any other measures that the committee may deem fit in realising these objectives.
“The committee has 14 days to submit its report.”
On the Acting President, Customary Court of Appeal, Imo State, Justice Abosi, the statement read, “Findings showed that he was supposed to have retired in November, 2015 when he clocked the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.
“Council decided to recommend for his compulsory retirement to Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and to also deduct the salaries he had earned from November, 2015 to date from his retirement benefit.”
And on Justice Liman of the Bauchi State High Court the council recommended to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, compulsory retirement for his failure to deliver judgment in suit No BA/100/2010, between Abubakar Isa and Sheik Tahir Usman Bauchi within the three months period stipulated by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It read, “Council viewed His Lordship’s failure to deliver judgment for nearly four years as misconduct, contrary to Section 292 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended and Rules 1.3 and 3.7 of the 2016 Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
