The Supreme Court is set to fill its rank with at least 11 new Justices following the nomination of twenty-two Justices of the Court of Appeal by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), for elevation to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The FJSC sent the list of the 22 nominees to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for ratification and onward recommendation to President Bola Tinubu.
The nominees include the chairman of the defunct Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC), Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, who hails from Bauchi State.
A breakdown of the list shows that the North-Central region has six nominees, while the South-West and South-South regions have two nominees each. The South-East region also has six nominees, and the North-East has two nominees.
However from the categorisation of the nominees, it was observed that some of the nominees were tagged as ‘priority’ while others were tagged ‘reserve’. A total of 11 nominees were tagged priority, which likely indicates the actual number of Justices to be elevated to the Supreme Court upon approval by the President following a recommendation from the NJC.
The Supreme Court is currently left with only 10 serving Justices following a number of retirements and deaths of Justices of the apex Court. With the expectation appointment of at least additional 11 Justices into the Supreme Court, the total number of Justices will shoot up to 21.
Below is the full list of the 22 nominated Justices:
SOUTH-EAST:
1. Hon Justice Nwaoma Uwa (Abia State) – Priority
1A.Hon Justice Onyekachi Otisi (Abia State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Obande Ogbuinya (Ebonyi State) – Priority
2A. Hon Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua (Imo State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Anthony Ogakwu (Enugu State) – Priority
3A. Hon Justice Chioma Nwosu-lheme (Imo State) – Reserve
SOUTH-SOUTH:
1. Hon Justice Moore Adumein (Bayelsa State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Biobele Georgewill (Rivers State) – Reserve
SOUTH-WEST:
1. Hon Justice Adewale Abiru (Lagos State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Olubunmi Oyewole (Osun State) – Reserve
NORTH-CENTRAL:
1. Hon Jummai Sankey (Plateau State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Sirajo (Plateau) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Stephen Adah (Kogi State) – Priority
2A. Hon. Justice Ridman Maiwada Abdullahi (Nassarawa State) – Reserve
3. Hon Justice Baba Idris (Niger State) – Priority
3A. Hon Justice Joseph Ikyegh (Benue State) – Reserve
NORTH-EAST:
1. Hon Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani (Bauchi State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Abubakar Talba (Adamawa State) – Reserve
NORTH-WEST:
1. Hon Justice Muhammad Lawal Shuaibu (Jigawa State) – Priority
1A. Hon Justice Bello Aliyu (Zamfara State) – Reserve
2. Hon Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar (Kebbi State) – Priority
2A. Hon Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero (Kano State) – Reserve