Retiring justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Musa Dattijo, on Friday, lamented that the power vested in the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) is too absolute and can easily breed corruption.
He alleged that the refusal to fill the vacant slot of the Southeast and Northcentral regions on the apex court bench was deliberate.
Justice Dattijo said: “As presently structured, the CJN is Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) which oversees both the appointment and discipline of judges. He is equally the chair of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the National Judicial Institute (NJI), and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) that appoints Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).
“My considered opinion: the oversight functions of these bodies should not rest on an individual alone. A person with absolute powers, it is said, corrupts easily and absolutely.
“As chair of the NJC, FJSC, NJI, and LPPC, appointments as council, board, and commitment members are at his pleasure. He neither confers with fellow justices nor seeks their counsel or input on any matter related to these bodies; he has both the final and the only say.
“The CJN has the power to appoint 80 per cent of members of the council and 60 per cent of members of FJSC. The same applies to NJI and LPPC.”
Speaking further, he said such enormous powers “are effortlessly abused”.
“This needs to change. Continued denial of the existence of this threatening anomaly weakens effective judicial oversight in the country. Appropriate steps could have been taken earlier to fill outstanding vacancies in the apex court.
“Why have these steps not been timeously taken? It is evident that the decision not to fill the vacancies in the court is deliberate. It is all about the absolute powers vested in the office of the CJN and the responsible exercise of the same,” he added.
Justice Dattijo further decried the exclusion of justices from two geo-political zones of the country from the seven-man panel that heard the appeals by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
He said it was dangerous for the nation’s democracy to have left out justices from the Southeast and North-Central regions.
Speaking during the valedictory session held in his honour on Friday in Abuja, Dattijo said although the justice representing the Southeast died over two years ago, he (the deceased) ought to have been replaced.
He said: “To ensure justice and transparency in presidential appeals from the lower court, all geo-political zones are required to participate in the hearing. It is therefore dangerous for democracy and equity for two entire regions to be left out in the decisions that will affect the generality of Nigerians.
“With the passing of my lord, Justice Chima Nweze, on July 29 2023, the South-East no longer has any presence at the Supreme Court. My lord, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, died on March 7, 2021. There has not been any appointment in his stead for the Southeast.
“As it stands, only four geo-political regions – the Southwest, Southsouth, Northwest and Northeast are represented in the Supreme Court. While the South-South and Northeast have two serving justices, the Northwest and Southwest are fully represented with three each.”
He said with his retirement, the Northcentral zone, which he represented, would no longer have a justice at the Supreme Court.