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Here are the 12 States that Appeal Courts Judges would not be picked from and why

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has revealed a list of 12 States in Nigeria from where judges would not be appointed to the Court of Appeal because they already have their fair share of representation at the Court.

NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, said the ongoing process of appointment is to bring the total number of judges at the appellate Court to 90 as stipulated by the law.

“In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately represented, all States that have three serving Justices were not considered unless under special circumstances.

“The States not considered are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.”

Mr. Oye disregarded assumptions made by some online Media that the recommended appointments are lopsided and gave insight on how candidates are picked.

Appointment of judicial officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.

Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of Justices of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of Justices to be appointed should not be more than 90 plus the President. The court, however, currently has 76 Justices leaving vacancy for additional 14 Justices.

Of the 76 Justices of the Court, the North Central with 6 states and FCT has 12 Justices; North-East with 6 states has 12 Justices plus the president; North-West with 7 states has 9 Justices; South-East with 5 states has 13 Justices; South South with 6 states has 14 Justices and South West with 6 states has 15 Justices.

The appointments are made to the Appellate Court, based on promotion of judges to Supreme Court, retirement at the age of 70 or death.

The vacancy is filled with the judicial officer from the zone of the one who was elevated, retired or departed, so it is therefore unfair for the online Media to claim the NJC recommended to candidates from the South-East; a zone that currently has 13 Justices at the Court of Appeal, the Spokesman stated.

ETN24 reported how a popular online Media published a fake news about NJC recommending 14 Judges for appointment with none from the South-East.

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