Senate Confirms 11 New Supreme Court Justices

The Senate on Thursday confirmed the appointment of the 11 new justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The 11 Justices confirmed are:

Justice Jummai Sankey (North-Central)

Justice Stephen Adah (North-Central)

Justice Mohammed Idris (North-Central)

Justice Haruna Tsammani (North-East)

Justice Jamilu Tukur (North-West)

Justice Abubakar Umar (North-West)

Justice Chidiebere Uwa (South-East)

Justice Chioma Nwosu Iheme (South-East)

Justice Obande Festus Ogbuinya (South-East)

Justice Moore Adumein (South-South)

Justice Habib Adewale Abiru (South-West)

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced their confirmation after they were cleared through a voice vote by the senators at the plenary.

With the confirmation, the Supreme Court has now reached its full complement of 21 justices as mandated by law.

The justices were screened by the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on Wednesday.

The screening exercise was referred to the committee by Senate President Akpabio after reading the nomination letter from President Bola Tinubu.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno), submitted the report of the screening before their confirmation was announced on Thursday.

Senator Monguno said his committee received the curriculum vitae of the nominees and invited them for the exercise.

He explained that during the screening, the justices demonstrated competence of handling the dispensation of justice.

The committee chairman noted that the nomination and appointment satisfied the constitutional provision of section 231 (3), which states that an individual needs 15 years experience on the bar to be qualified for the Supreme Court justice.

Senator Monguno said there were no petitions or criminal records against the nominees.

He said the committee members were satisfied with the nomination of the justices and, therefore, recommended their confirmation.

Senator Binos Yaroe (PDP, Adamawa South) seconded the motion that the nominees be confirmed.

The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, commended the committee for successfully conducting the screening.

He called on the lawmakers to support the confirmation of the nominees.

Senator Simon Lalong (APC, Plateau South) also commended the committee for conducting the screening and urged the Senate to confirm their appointments.

Senator Ahmed Lawan, the immediate past senate president, called on the National Assembly and the Presidency to improve the funding of the judiciary.

“The time has come for both the legislature and the executive to give the Judiciary more financial attention, we should give them resources.

“I know we can do something, let us give them more resources so that we can hold them accountable when they do not perform,” Senator Lawan said.