The fast-declining number of Justices of the Court of Appeal has dropped to 70 from the 81 that it was as of July this year,This leaves the court with 20 vacancies on its bench which statutorily has a full complement of 90 Justices.
It was learnt that this has created some difficulties in seven of the 20 divisions of the court scattered in different states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. The five divisions whose Justices were elevated to the Supreme Court are Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, and Makurdi. While the Presiding Justice of the division, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju, and Justice Samuel Oseji, were inaugurated as Justices of the Supreme Court on November 6, another of the Justices at the division, Justice Tinuade Akomolafe-Wilson, bowed out after reaching the retirement age of 70 in October.
At the Abuja Division, the Presiding Justice, Justice Abdu Aboki, and Justice Emmanuel Agim, were elevated to the Supreme Court, leaving only six Justices at the very busy division. “The NJC should do something about it. What has happened at the Supreme Court is already happening at the Court of Appeal – there is a huge backlog of cases that needs to be attended to.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)