- President urges Senate to confirm Oyewole for Supreme Court
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the appointment of 40 additional Justices for the Court of Appeal and 20 judges for the Federal High Court as part of efforts to strengthen judicial capacity and tackle mounting caseloads.
The request is contained in two separate Bills that the President transmitted to the Red Chamber and read yesterday at plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio as the lawmakers resumed sitting after the Christmas and New Year recess.
In the first Bill, President Tinubu is seeking an amendment to the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, to increase the number of justices in the Appeal Court from 70 to 110.
The second Bill proposes an amendment to the Federal High Court Act, 2004, to raise the number of judges from the current 70 to 90.
According to the President, the proposed expansion has become necessary due to the growing workload of the courts and the emergence of specialised and complex areas of litigation, including terrorism-related cases, taxation, and other evolving aspects of federal jurisdiction.
Beyond increasing manpower, the Court of Appeal amendment also aims to modernise judicial operations.
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The Bill provides for electronic and virtual court proceedings and seeks to update several operational terminologies in the existing law to reflect contemporary judicial practices.
He said the Bills proposed the modernisation of the court proceedings through the introduction of virtual court proceedings.
“The Bill provides for the conduct of proceedings of the Court of Appeal through electronic and audio, establishment of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center (ADRC).
“The Court of Appeal Bill seeks to establish an Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre within the Court of Appeal, where appellate matters may be referred for settlement,” the President said.
On the Federal High Court, President Tinubu noted that the present number of judges is no longer sufficient to cope with the volume and complexity of cases brought before the court.
He recalled that the court was originally established with 50 judges, a figure increased to 70 in 2009.
President Tinubu argued that recent developments in governance, security, and economic regulation have placed additional demands on the court, making a further expansion unavoidable.
The President said the proposed increase to 90 judges would improve efficiency, reduce delays in the administration of justice and ensure that the court is better equipped with judges possessing the requisite professional competence in emerging areas of law.
Also, President Tinubu yesterday forwarded the name of Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole to the Senate for confirmation as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
After reading the letters, Akpabio referred them to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative action.
