By Jude-Ken Ojinnaka
Baring any last minute change, the National Judicial Council (NJC) will on Wednesday next week take final decision and select 11 Justices out the 22 shortlisted to fill the 11 vacancies on the Supreme Court bench.
TheNiche gathered from Abuja that lobbying has been intensified from the candidates and their proxies to be nominated for the slots in the highest organ of the judiciary.
Recall that the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) had nominated 22 justices of the Court of Appeal to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for elevation to the Supreme Court.
A two-day meeting of the highly influential National Judicial Council will hold at its headquarters in Abuja. It was gathered that the 22 candidates on the FJSC shortlist have been screened by the council.
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While the first day of the plenary will discuss the shortlist of candidates drawn up by the NJC panels as well as lists sent in by the various State Judicial Service Commissions for appointment at different levels of the court system, the 2nd day of the NJC Meeting will deal with disciplinary matters relating to judicial officers.
While six of the nominees are each from the North-Central and South -East zones, respectively , two nominees each are from the South-West, the South-South and the North-East while North -West has four nominees
With the recent retirement of Justice Amina Augie and Justice Musa Muhammad Dattijo, the Supreme Court bench has reduced to merely 10 out of the 21 slots provided by the Constitution.
It is noteworthy that the Olumide Akpata-led Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had a running battle with the leadership of the Court of Appeal over the quality of candidates shortlisted for the court’s bench.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola recently swore in nine new Justices of the Court of Appeal, swelling the rank of the judges of the court to 81.
