|
Listen to article
|
Sources indicated this week that the National Judicial Council (NJC), under the leadership of Chief Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun, is poised to convene a pivotal meeting to review, among other matters, the findings of its investigative committees into allegations of misconduct involving several judicial officers.
Set to be the first quarterly meeting of the Council under Justice Kekere-Ekun and the last of the year—unless exceptional circumstances intervene—this gathering has caused notable tension within the judiciary. This follows a recent vow by the Chief Justice to hold errant judicial officers fully accountable for their actions.
Established under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution, the National Judicial Council (NJC) holds statutory authority to appoint, promote, and discipline judicial officers who engage in misconduct across the country.
An informed source within the Council told reporters that the date for the meeting will be scheduled once the Chief Justice, who is currently on an official mission abroad, returns to the country.Additionally, it was learned that the Chief Justice is concerned about the public’s perception of the judiciary and is focused on quickly rectifying the situation to bring back stability and respect to the system.
“I can tell you that the Chief Justice is eagerly awaiting the reports of the various panels earlier constituted to probe sundry allegations of misconduct against the judicial officers to enable her act decisively on them,” the source said.
Read also: Transfer Of Judges Not Because Of Nnamdi Kanu – Appeal Court
It would be recalled that between May and August 2024, a total of 22 petitions were written against 27 serving judges of both the Federal and state high courts in the country while the NJC referred all the complaints to one of its standing Committees , Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee, for consideration.
The Committee had examined each of the petitions and threw out a majority 18 on the accounts that they were either lacking in merit, abandoned by the petitioners or found to be subjudice since some of the issues raised therein were still subject to litigation either at the high courts or the appellate courts.
This is aside a separate eight panels earlier set up by the same NJC in June 2024 to investigate another set of judges for alleged judicial misconduct.
Specifically, the Council’s Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee had examined 35 different petitions written against 33 judicial officers from both the Court of Appeal and the state high courts but found only eight to be meritorious.
