Judiciary: CJN to launch rescue mission

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Dahiru Musdapher

Judiciary: CJN to launch rescue mission
Cukwumereije Aja, Abuja

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Dahiru Musdapher has concluded plans to convene a stakeholders’ conference to address the crises in the Judiciary.

The conference, according to him, will be organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), as part of the CJN’s efforts to tackle his inherited challenges.

Besides, the heads of courts, under the auspices of the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), will meet next week to iron out some issues affecting the Judiciary.

Justice Musdapher spoke on Wednesday at the Call-to-Bar of 3,050 lawyers in Abuja.

Body of benchers

Among the new lawyers are those who wrote their re-sit examinations in April and the regular students who wrote theirs in May.

Five of the graduands made the first class; 132 secured second class upper; 717 got second class lower and 2196 had pass, grossing some 70% of those who sat the qualifying final exams.

The jubilant graduands were presented to the Body of Benchers, headed by Justice Musdapher, by the Director- General of the Nigeria Law School (NLS), Dr. Tahir Mamman, as fit and proper persons to be called to the Bar.

Different strata in the justice dispensation

The CJN advised the new lawyers to shun sharp practices.
On the crises in the judiciary, Justice Musdapher said he had adopted a multi-faceted approach to tackle the problems.

He said: “The Heads of Courts, under the auspices of the Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute, will also be meeting on the 13th of October, 2011 and we will not shy away from taking a comprehensive look at deserving issues, irrespective of their sensitivity or depth.”

“As you can see, different strata in the justice dispensation system will be involved in the judicial reform agenda. It is hoped that discussions that will be held at the various fora will garner additional support for the reform process and inspire a holistic change, which will be sustained in the future”, the CJN said.

Independence of the judiciary

Justice Musdapher said the judiciary was considering sending a bill to the National Assembly for constitutional amendment to make the judiciary more independent.

“We are working in collaboration with critical and knowledgeable stakeholders to guarantee that our resultant policies are effective and not mono-dimensional. In addition, experienced and reputable resource persons have been contacted to provide opinion and possible support to the constitutional amendment process, which we believe is crucial to further institutionalising the independence of the judiciary”.

The NJC, on August 18, under the leadership of the immediate past CJN, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, suspended from office, the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Ayo Isa Salami, for failure to apologise to the former CJN.

Justice Salami was accused of lying on oath that Justice Katsina-Alu asked him to meddle in the 2007 Sokoto governorship tussle.