NATIONAL JUDICIAL COMMISSION (NJC) AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE- Ahuraka Yusuf Isah

"Although, for fear of being charged for heresy or

blasphemy, some stakeholders have murmured that the position of the CJN in the NJC, is almost absolute, like that of the Almighty on His Throne”

Ahuraka Isah writes about the National Judicial Council (NJC) which came into being in 2000, replacing the Advisory Judicial Council. He discusses its composition, one of its main functions, which is to exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers, the disciplinary actions it has taken since its inception and the powers of the Chief Justice of Nigeria therein

Definitions

The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines a

council as a group of people elected or chosen to make

decisions or give advice on a particular subject, to represent

a particular group of people, or to run a particular

organisation. It could also mean a group of people elected to

govern a particular area, town, or city, and organise services

for it; or as an ecclesiastical assembly for deciding matters

of doctrine or discipline. On the other hand, a Councillor, the

dictionary says is a member of a council, or as one

convened to advice a governor. It is a form of community

leadership representing your local area. A Councillor’s

primary role is to represent their ward or division and the

people who live in it. Councillors provide a bridge between

the community and the council. In United Kingdom or

Nigeria, a Councillor is an elected member of a local

government council. The Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia)

explains that under the Philippine Republic Act No. 7160

(otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991), a

Councillor is a member of a local council that is the

legislative body of the local government unit. In Finland

Councillor (Neuvos) is the highest possible title of honour

which can be granted by the President of Finland to

successful statesman

.

Creation of the NJC

The National Judicial Council which was created by virtue of

Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic

of Nigeria (as amended) (1999 Constitution), had its

inaugural meeting in year 2000. It was modelled after the

Judges’ Council, a body in England and Wales that

represents the judiciary, advices the Lord Chief Justice on

judicial matters; originally created by the Judicature Act,

1873. NJC was however, created and vested with enormous

powers and functions which the erstwhile Advisory Judicial

Committee (AJC) it replaced, did not have, in order to

preserve financial autonomy and an independent Judiciary

that is committed to the rule of law. The council has a

mandate also to guarantee a judiciary run by Judicial

Officers and staff with proven integrity and impeccable

character; and a judiciary that is information technology

driven and equipped with the latest stenographic recording

machines.

Composition of the NJC

By virtue of the provision of Paragraph 20 of Part One of the

Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution, the NJC is

comprised of 25 members with the Chief Justice of Nigeria

as the Chairman; and the next most senior Justice of the

Supreme Court as Deputy Chairman; while the Executive

Secretary of the Council is the Secretary. By virtue of their

positions, the President of the Court of Appeal, the Chief

Judge of the Federal High Court and the President, National

Industrial Court are members. But the CJN choses five

retired Justices from the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal;

five Chief Judges of States and of the High Court of the

Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in rotation, to serve for two

years. The CJN also selects one Grand Kadi from among

Grand Kadis of the Sharia Courts of Appeal, to serve in

rotation for two years; one President of the Customary Court

of Appeal from among the Presidents of the Customary

Courts of Appeal, to also serve in rotation for two years. The

CJN is empowered further to appoint two persons not being

Legal Practitioners, who in his opinion, are of unquestionable

integrity; and lastly, to appoint five members of the Nigerian

Bar Association, on the recommendation of the NBA. The five

lawyers sit in the Council only for the purposes of

considering the names of persons for appointment to the

superior courts of record, just as the Secretary has no voting

rights and not considered as a member.

Power of the CJN

Although, for fear of being charged for heresy or blasphemy,

some stakeholders have murmured that the position of the

CJN in the NJC, is almost absolute, like that of the Almighty

on His Throne. The main difference remains that the turn-

over of the CJNs in the last ten years was so high to the

extent that two of them spent barely six to nine months

respectively on the seat. Those CJNs were not able to

appropriate the luxury of appointing members of the council

to give them ‘’every-day- yes’’ support in the council. As it is

common with human nature, some members shifted their

loyalties to the council’s deputy chairman or succeeding

CJN in the council. The drafters of the constitution may wish

to claim sovereign immunity, ‘rex non potest peccare’ or ‘’the

sovereign can do no wrong’’; otherwise, they failed to tell

whether the council members are representing respective

sections of the society. And even if it is, the retired justices

for instance have no common platform. Those selected from

their midst would still have found it difficult to have meetings

with a sizeable number of their colleagues from time to time.

Important Function of the NJC

One of the most important functions of the Council, is to

exercise disciplinary control over judicial officers by way of

recommending to the President or the Governors (as the

case may be) of the removal of erring or corrupt judges.

According to World Bank Group–Law (Celebrating Reform

2007: Doing Business Case Studies); ‘’before 2000 no judge

had ever been disciplined for corruption in Nigeria. To

sanitise the Nigerian judiciary, NJC instituted a review panel

in 2001. Over the next 6 years it reviewed 130 judges,

recommending 8 for dismissal, 15 for compulsory

retirement, and 13 for reprimands’’.

Disciplinary Action taken by NJC since its Inception

While reacting to the Federal Government’s defence that the

arrest of the Judges in the wee hours of the night were

carried out because the council no longer live up to its

mandate of exercising disciplinary control of the judiciary,

but rather shielding some corrupt judges, NJC gave the

following statistics in its press statement of October 13,

2016. ‘’From year 2000, when the NJC held its inaugural

Meeting to 2016, 1808 petitions and complaints against

Judicial Officers, including CJNs, Justices of Supreme Court

and Court of Appeal were received by the respective CJN

and Chairman of the NJC. Eighty-two of the Judicial Officers

were reprimanded (suspension, caution or warning), by

Council, in the exercise of its exclusive Constitutional

Disciplinary Power over Judicial Officers. Thirty-eight of the

Judicial Officers were recommended to the President or

Governor where applicable, for compulsory retirement from

office; while twelve were recommended to the President or

Governor as the case may be, for dismissal from office’’.

Immediate Past CJN

The immediate past CJN, Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed,

GCON, had in a keynote address he delivered at the opening

ceremony of a two-day training workshop for the Abuja

Chapter of the National Association of Judiciary

Correspondents, NAJUC on 3rd December, 2014, held that

the era when the activities of the judiciary were shrouded in

secrecy was over. He stressed that the role that the press

had played in enthroning integrity, probity and transparency

in the judiciary, could neither be underestimated nor over-

emphasised, adding that there was need for the public to be

properly informed about the nature and activities of the

judiciary. “The general belief was that all the activities of the

judiciary started and ended in the court room. The scare of

the dreaded subjudice or contempt of court hung ominously

over information or on the head of the information

disseminator. The judiciary was a no-go area for the media

by whatever means, and the judiciary itself saw no use it

could make of the press.

The judiciary completely lived in its cocoon. Any prying eyes

of the media into the affairs of the judiciary, was treated as a

satanic invasion or demonic intrusion, that must be resisted

and repelled by any means, especially by the use of the

doctrine of contempt of court ex facie curie. However, the

trend has changed’’, Justice Mohammed said. Honourable

Justice Walter Onnoghen, CJN As Honourable Justice Walter

Samuel Nkannu Onnoghen now takes over the affairs of the

judiciary, after being confirmed as the substantive CJN, the

trend his immediate predecessor said has changed perhaps

should be demonstrated by NJC as well.

The council members would argue that they are representing

the ‘judiciary’ and not necessarily any particular section of

the society to justify the ‘’literary or ordinary’’ meaning of the

terms ‘’council and Councillor’’, which is understandable. The

public still believe that the CJN’s power to nominate virtually

all the members of the council, gives him the opportunity to

control and direct the affairs of the judiciary, according to his

ability. Therefore, he takes almost full responsibility for the

performance of the council.

Ahuraka Yusuf Isah, Media Aide to former Chief Justices of

Nigeria, Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar (GCON) and

Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed (GCON)

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