A report by Thisday has revealed that
President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to accept the recommendation of the
new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). This is in spite of the incumbent
CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed having less than a week to complete his
tenure as the head of the judiciary.
Justice Mohammed will retire on
Thursday, when he will turn 70, the mandatory retirement age for
justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. On Tuesday,
October 11, the National Judicial Council had recommended Justice Walter
Samuel Onnoghen for consideration as CJN.
The NJC acted on the provisions of of
Section 231 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, which states: “The appointment
of a person to the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria shall be made by
the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council
(NJC), subject to confirmation of such appointment by the Senate.”
If his name is submitted and he is
confirmed by the Senate, Onnoghen will be the first person from the
southern section of the country to occupy the post in almost three
decades. Justice Ayo Irikife was the last southerner to occupy the post
of the CJN between 1985 and 1987.
Onnoghen is highly favoured to emerge as
the next CJN as the practice has always been to appoint the most senior
Supreme Court justice to the position. Although, in law, the president
is not bound to accept his nomination, but he (the president) cannot
bypass the NJC in taking the decision.
The president is also at liberty to ask
the NJC to recommend to him another suitable candidate for the office,
if he does not accept Onnonoghen’s nomination.
As at the time of this report, the
Senate was yet to receive any letter from the president regarding the
appointment of a new CJN. Last week, the outgoing CJN blamed the Buhari
government for its failure to act on recommendations by the NJC.
Justice Mohammed made the statement
while responding to a query by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project on why the NJC has for many years failed to appropriately deal
with several cases of corrupt judges.
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