Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Olukayode Ariwoola
NJC denies ceding powers to state governors to promote judges
National Judicial Council (NJC) has refuted claims contained in a letter allegedly emanating from it ceding its statutory powers and tasks regarding selection and promotion of judges to state governors in the country.
According to the NJC, the said letter issued to the Chief Judge of Kebbi State and reportedly signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, did not come from the Council or the CJN, who is the Council’s Chairman.
The media space was rife, last week, reporting a letter from the CJN, Justice Ariwoola authorizing state governors to promote and appoint chief judges in their states, a statutory function of the NJC, which recommends such to state chief executives.
Reacting to the reports via a statement, Sunday, NJC’s Director of Information, Mr Soji Oye, described the letters as ‘phoney’ which ‘included no facts.’
“The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to a fake letter dated 14th July 2023, purported to have emanated from the Council, and signed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council Hon Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON.
“The fake letter titled “Order of Seniority of Judges of the High Court of Kebbi state and recommendation of Justice Umar Abubakar as the substantive Chief Judge of Kebbi state” addressed to the Chief Judge stating “that under section 10 of the existing law of Kebbi state 1996, His Excellency, the Governor, has the power to determine Seniority of Judges and the National Judicial Council has no power to override or reverse the decision of His Excellency.”
“It further stated that “the office of the Head of Court or Chief Judge is purely a political appointment to be decided by the Governor of a state.”
“For clarification and avoidance of doubt, the National Judicial Council hereby emphatically disclaimed the letter as there is no iota of truth in it and no such letter ever emanated from the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria or the Council.”
The NJC’s Director of Information, therefore, advised Nigerians ‘to discountenance the letter and its content.’
“Meanwhile, the Council has reported the unfortunate case to the relevant security agencies to investigate and bring to book whoever is behind this dastardly act,” Mr Oye added.
