17 SANs seek suspension of appointment of new judges over alleged list favouring Yahaya Bello’s tribe

 

No fewer than 17 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) from Kogi State have called for the suspension of appointment of new Judges into the state judiciary until certain criteria are met, SaharaReporters reported.

This was contained in a letter to the Chief Judge and Chairman of Kogi State Judicial Service Commission, Justice Josiah Majebi, which was dated October 20, 2023.

Titled “RE: Provisional Short-list Of Candidates Of Ten Judicial Officers Of The High Court Of Justice Shariah Court Of Appeal And Customary Court Of Appeal,” the indigenous Kogi SANs stated that appointment of Judges to superior courts of record is regulated and requires provision of basic facilities such as availability of court rooms/Judges chambers, official cars, residential accommodation as well as equipped library in Judges’ chambers, citing Rules 1-5 of National Judicial Council Revised Guidelines.

According to the online newspaper, in the 12-point issues raised in the letter signed by Usman, Life Bencher for himself and on behalf of 16 other Senior Advocates, the legal luminaries also pointed out that the proposed candidates listed for appointments of judges did not reflect the geographical spread. They noted that the list is lopsided to the disadvantage of other parts of the State.

According to the letter, the candidates listed for customary Court of Appeal are all from Kogi Central and there is no candidate from Kogi East or Kogi West, noting that there are qualified persons from Kogi East and Kogi West that were not selected.

Moreso, the appointment of Judges according to the legal luminaries, must in compliance to section 14 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, be based on merit, competence, fairness, and equity among the various tribes of the State, which they observed in the instance case where not observed in breach.

According to News Reporters, it was reliably gathered that about 80 of shortlisted candidates for appointment to the 10 vacant positions for Judges and Kadis were from Ebira, Governor Yahaya Bello’s clan.