From Victor Osula, Abuja
Roughly a fortnight ago after retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Musa Dattijo Muhammad, railed against the lack of fairness and equity at the apex court and among others pointed out the harm created by the deliberate failure to fill the vacancies in the Supreme Court left by the death and retirement of Justices, particularly from the Southeast zone and the North Central, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, has nominated 22 justices of the Court of Appeal for elevation to the Supreme Court.
Justice Muhammad who blamed the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, for the problem, saying that “it is evident that the decision to fill the vacancies is deliberate,” because, “it is all about the absolute powers vested in the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria,” went on to criticise the prevailing situation, whereby, “only four geo-political zones- the Southwest, the South south, the North west and North east are represented in the Supreme Court, ” making it, ” dangerous for democracy and equity for two entire regions to be left out in the decisions that will affect the generality of Nigerians.”
From the list of the nominees forwarded to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for consideration, as disclosed to newsmen on Thursday, Justice Dattijo’s concern has been addressed. The North Central and South- east zones have a full complement of 6 Justices unlike other zones.
The nominees are shown below according to regional distribution:
SOUTH EAST:
1. Hon. Justice Nwaoma Uwa (Abia State) – Priority
2. Hon. Justice Onyekachi Otisi (Abia State) – Reserve
3. Hon. Justice Obande Ogbuinya (Ebonyi State) – Priority
4. Hon. Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua (Imo State) – Reserve
5. Hon. Justice Anthony Ogakwu (Enugu State) – Priority
6. Hon. Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (Imo State) – Reserve
SOUTH SOUTH:
7. Hon. Justice Moore Adumein (Bayelsa State) – Priority
8. Hon. Justice Biobele Georgewill (Rivers State) – Reserve
SOUTH WEST:
9. Hon. Justice Adewale Abiru (Lagos State) – Priority
10. Hon. Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (Osun State) – Reserve
NORTH CENTRAL:
11. Hon. Jummai Sankey (Plateau State) – Priority
12. Hon. Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo (Plateau) – Reserve
13. Hon. Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi State) – Priority
14. Hon. Justice Ridman Maiwada Abdullahi (Nassarawa State) – Reserve
15. Hon. Justice Baba Idris (Niger State) – Priority
16. Hon. Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Benue State) – Reserve
NORTH EAST:
17. Hon. Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Bauchi State) – Priority
18. Hon. Justice Abubakar Talba (Adamawa State)
NORTH WEST:
19. Hon. Justice Muhammad Lawal Shuaibu (Jigawa State) – Priority
20. Hon. Justice Bello Aliyu (Zamfara State) – Reserve
21. Hon. Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar (Kebbi State) – Priority
22. Hon. Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero (Kano State) – Reserve
