The seven-member panel that rejected every petition seeking President Tinubu’s removal from office, according to departing Supreme Court Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, was ill-constituted since it lacked representatives from every geopolitical zone in the nation.
The departing justice added that in order to prevent abuse of power, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, should have less authority.
To the varied responses of Nigerians, the Supreme Court panel on Thursday denied challenges from Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP) and upheld Bola Tinubu’s election as the country’s president.
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Judge Muhammad, meanwhile, who invested 47 years in active judicial service, bowed out of the apex court bench on Friday, having clocked the 70 years mandatory retirement age.
Taking advantage of the valedictory session held in his honour by the Supreme Court, he addressed what he saw as judicial rot that had persisted in impairing the nation’s justice delivery system.
He said, “Through the years, I rose to become the second most senior justice of the country’s apex court and Deputy Chairperson of the National Judicial Council.
“Considering the number of years I have spent in judicial service and the position I have attained by the grace of the Almighty, I feel obligated to continue the struggle for reforms for a better Judiciary and would be leaning on the earlier submissions of those who had exited before me,” Justice Muhammad stated before he descended on the CJN.
According to him, the CJN has a great deal of power because of the current organisation of the judiciary, and it typically makes decisions without seeking input from other justices.
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“As presently structured, the CJN is Chairman of the NJC which oversees both the appointment and discipline of judges, he is equally Chair of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the National Judicial Institute (NJI), the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) that appoints Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
“In 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 NJC, FJSC, NJI and LPPC, appointments as council, board and commitment members are at his pleasure. He neither confers with fellow justices nor seek their counsel or input on any matter related to these bodies. He has both the final and the only say.
“The CJN has power to appoint 80 percent of members of the council and 60 percent of members of FJSC. The same applies to NJI and LPPC.
“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,” he added.
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Regarding the current makeup of the Supreme Court’s bench, Justice Muhammad claimed that it was intentional not to appoint someone to the South East seat, citing “absolute powers vested in the office of the CJN.”
He further emphasised that the North Central zone, which he represented, will lose a justice to the Supreme Court bench upon his retirement.
“My lord Hon. Justice Ejembi Eko JSC who also represented the zone retired on 23rd of May, 2022. It has been a year and five months now. There has not been any replacement.
“With the passing of my lord, Hon. Justice Chima Centus Nweze, JSC on 29th July 2023, the South East no longer has any presence at the Supreme Court. My lord, Hon. Justice Sylvester Nwali Ngwuta JSV died on 7th March 2021. There has not been any appointment in his stead for the South East.
“As it stands, only four geo-political regions- the South-West, South-South, North-West and North-East are represented in the Supreme Court.
“While the South-South and North-East have two serving justices, the North-West and South-West are fully represented with three each.
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“Appropriate steps could have been taken since 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 same,” the retiring jurist added.
Regarding the question of who should be on the panel that heard the appeals of candidates for president from the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, Justice Muhammad, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, 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.
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“This is not what our laws envisage. Although it can be posited that no one expected the sudden passing of Hon. Justice Nweze JSC, yet, it has been two years and seven months since previous justice from South-East died and no appointment was made.”
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