Nigerian Senate may raise number of Supreme Court justices to 30

Following the backlog of cases waiting for the attention of the Supreme Court justices, the Nigerian Senate may raise the number of justices from the current 21 to 30 for expeditious and efficient handling of cases.

This was disclosed by the representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Osita, saying he has proposed through a bill that the apex Court ought to be efficiently managing cases passed to it and other judicial issues.

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Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Abuja to mark his two years in office, the lawmaker in the 10th National Assembly argued that the number of justices as it were was grossly inadequate to cope with demands of adjudicating cases due to high number passed from lower number to it.

Government last appointed 11 justices in 2023 to fill the constitutional quota for the first time in the nation’s history.

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According to him, the current 21 justices are still grappling with alarming rate of cases coming to the apex court daily, the development he said, was far reaching in term of getting justice.

He believed that the proposed bill would enable the Supreme Court to form more panels for purposes of adjudication.
“Supreme Court justices typically sit in panels of five, or seven for constitutional matters. If we have 30 justices, it allows the formation of at least five panels simultaneously. That way, more cases can be handled at a faster pace,” he said.

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