UPDATED: 17 Nominees For FCT High Court Appointment Are Unqualified — Says, Open Bar Initiative
A Group which identifies itself as Open Bar Initiative (OBI) has petitioned President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, over the names recommended for appointment as High Court Judges of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The petition was signed by the Conveners of the Group, Silas Joseph Onu, Esq, and Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Ph.D., and other four members Auta Nyada, Esq, Donal Ayibiowu, Esq, Obioma Ezenwobodo and Bulus Y. Atsen, Esq.
In the Press Release over the petition made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), the Group said “the petition makes clear that the recommendation from the NJC to president Buhari is irretrievably flawed and cannot be allowed to stand because the selection process violated the National Judicial Council’s laid down rules and procedures and is fraught with judicial insider dealing which risks turning Judiciary into an instrument for advancing narrow personal interests and patronage”
The group added that of the 33 candidates recommended,
1. At least 17 were unqualified according to the NJC’s own rules and standards
2. Nearly all of the unqualified candidates made the list only because they are related to serving senior members of the
judiciary or close aids and members of the NJC.
3. At least one (1) candidate did not apply for the job and never participated at the selection process but the persons’ name was smuggling in after shortlisting has been done.
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Ph.D. Co-convener of the Group said: “these are not just unqualified nominees; they are bad nominees because only bad people will want to become judges through smuggling. They will make bad judges. We should resist them and their sponsors.”
On 23 July, 2019, the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Hon. Justice I.U. Bello, issued a notice Ref. FCT/JSC/SEC/107/217 opening recruitment for "15 judges. Now, at the conclusion of the process, they purport to have
recruited 33 judges. How?!
Silas Joseph Onu, Esq Convener said: “the NJC, which should be the guarantor of judicial integrity, have chosen to make its rules expendable in order to facilitate judicial insider dealing. This should not be allowed to stand.”
The Open Bar Initiative also contends that the appointments violate the Federal Character Principle. It said, for example, Ebonyi State which has no Indigene in the FCT High Court was denied nominee in the current round of nominations but several states which already have judges in the FCT High Court got two nominees including Adamawa, Benue, Delta, Jigawa, Kano and Kebbi States.
It has in view of the above filed Freedom of Information request for information on compliance with the Federal Character Principle on the appointments
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu added that “we already have enough problems with the Judiciary in our country. The way these people are going, there will be no court or Bar to speak of in less than a generation if we don’t fight as lawyers, as citizens and as people of conscience.”
The Group, therefore, urges Mr. President to reject the names.
JUDICIAL INSIDER DEALING:
As we have pointed out above, all of the 17 candidates presented to Mr. President for appointment made the list only because they are related to serving senior members of the judiciary or close aids and members of the NJC. By way of illustration, of the 17, for instance:
One is the daughter of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria;
One is the daughter of the immediate past President of the Court of Appeal
One is the daughter of a Justice of the Supreme Court and daughter-in-law of a Justice of the Court of Appeal.
One is a daughter of another Supreme Court Justice.
One is the sister of the Presiding Justice of Appeal, Akure Division
One is the sister of a member of the NJC (D.D. Dodo SAN) and also wife of the President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Kanyip.
3 are just senior staff of the FCT High Court, without more, who have not attained the rank of a Chief Registrar.
One Deputy Chief Registrar from Adamawa State Judiciary who has not attained the rank of a Chief Registrar.
The 11 Magistrates from the FCT Judiciary, inclusive of the ones mentioned as relatives of senior Judiciary officials, none of them is a Chief Magistrate.
One is totally unknown to the entire process.
