The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended 21 candidates for judicial appointments, including two as heads of court in Ekiti and Yobe states.
The council recommended Adekanye Ogunmoye as Chief Judge of Ekiti State and Kadi Abba Mammadi as Grand Kadi of Yobe State.
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It similarly sent Mainasara Ibrahim Umar’s name to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointment as Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), which became vacant after last year’s removal of The decisions were part of the council’s resolutions reached at the end of its 109th meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, who doubles and the chair of the NJC, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, presided over the meeting.
NJC’s Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, detailed the resolutions of the meeting in a statement on Thursday. Apart from the judicial appointments, several other resolutions, including recommending the compulsory retirement of 10 Imo State judges over misconduct, were passed at the meeting.
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The statement said the 21 recommendations followed careful consideration of public complaints and a rigorous screening process by an eight-member Interview Committee of the Council.
In addition to recommending candidates for the heads of court in Ekiti and Yobe states, as well as the CCT chair appointment, the NJC also approved candidates for appointment as High Court judges and kadis of Sharia Court of Appeal across six other states. These states are Cross River, Ogun, Zamfara, Plateau, Ebonyi and Katsina.
The appointments for the state courts are subject to the approval of the governors. That of the CCT chair is requires the approval of President Bola Tinubu.
The breakdown of the appointment for judges and kadis is as follows:
High Court of Cross River (Two judges)
i) Edu, Glory Bassey
ii) Irem, Melody Bassey
High Court of Ogun State (Three judges)
i) Ojikutu, Adebayo Julius
ii) Adewole, Adejumoke Oluwatoyin
iii) Adebo, Oluyemisi Olukemi
High Court of Zamfara State (Three judges)
i) Garba, Sirajo Aliyu
ii) Bashir, Rabi
iii) Abdullahi, Nasiru
Sharia Court of Appeal, Zamfara State (Three kadis)
i) Ibrahim, Jibril
ii) Muhammed, Sanusi Magami
iii) Shaa’ban Mansur
Sharia Court of Appeal, Plateau State (One kadi)
i) Badamasi, Kabir Adam
Customary Court of Appeal, Ebonyi State (One judge)
i) Ogodo, Lynda Nneka
High Court of Katsina State (Four judges)
i) Dikko, Fadila Muhammad
ii) Abdulrahman, Shamsudden Yammama
iii) Abdullahi, Maryham Umaru
iv) Mohammed, Abubakar Dikko
How public complaints were treated
The NJC said its recommendation was in line with the 2023 Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules for Appointment of Judicial Officers.
The process, according to the body, included reviewing extensive public comments submitted after it published the list of shortlisted candidates earlier this year.
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It stated that of the total 86 responses received, 73 favourable (85 per cent) were favourable and 13 (15 per cent) were adverse.
However, five of the adverse submissions were found inadmissible due to the absence of verifying affidavits, while three relating to the Chief Judge appointment in Ekiti State were excluded from consideration, in line with the Council’s earlier decision during its 27th emergency meeting held on 3 February.
Out of the remaining five valid complaints, concerning candidates for High Courts in Plateau and Kano states and the Sharia Courts of Appeal in Zamfara and Katsina states, four were dismissed, and one was upheld, resulting in the affected candidate being dropped.
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