Court declines motion seeking to stop FCT CJ from appointing 12 judges

A federal high court in Abuja has refused to grant a motion ex parte seeking to stop Hussein Baba-Yusuf, chief judge of the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, from appointing 12 judges to the bench.

Ruling on Friday on the ex parte application moved by Emmanuel Emerenini, a lawyer, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, directed the plaintiff, Azubuike Oko, to put the defendants on notice within two days of the order.

Ekwo also ordered Oko to serve the defendants with all processes filed in the suit within two days of the order for them to show cause why the prayers on the motion ought not to be granted on the next adjourned date.

The judge, however, made an order for an accelerated hearing and adjourned the matter until March 4.

The plaintiff had sued the FCT CJ, National Judicial Council (NJC) and Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) as 1st to 3rd defendants.

Also joined in the suit are the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), president of Nigeria and attorney-general of the federation (AGF) as 4th to 6th defendants respectively.

The plaintiff sought an order directing the parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of his motion on notice.

The plaintiff is contending that his state of origin, Ebonyi, has been wrongfully excluded from the list of states from which the 12 judges will be selected.

In the affidavit deposed to by Christiana Dominic, a litigation assistant, the plaintiff said Oyo and Kogji which are on the list “already had two serving judges in the FCT high court”.

He added that the “two states were given additional slots to now have three judges, even though Ebonyi has no single serving judge in the high court of the FCT”.

The lawyer prayed the court to grant their motion in the interest of justice.

In January, Baba-Yusuf had called for the nomination of judges to fill vacant benches in the court.

In a letter addressed to various heads of court and dated January 18, 2024, Baba-Yusuf said Olukayode Ariwoola, the CJN, has approved “for the commencement of the exercise for the consideration of candidates to the bench of the Federal Capital Territory High Court”.

However, the chief judge said only eligible candidates from 12 states will be considered.

The states are Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo,  Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Zamfara.