Onnoghen Swears in Abba Aji as Justice of Supreme Court

By Alex Enumah

* Warns lawyers, judges to be diligent with cases

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, on
Tuesday swore in Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji as a Justice of the
Supreme Court, with a charge to her to bring her wealth of
experience to bear on the bench of the apex court.

Onnoghen also used the occasion to warn lawyers as well as
judges to be diligent in their handling of cases in order for the
apex court to deal expeditiously with the huge workload and files
before it.

He said: “Sometime in September 2018, I issued a statement to
the effect that the Supreme Court diary is full with appeals set
down for hearing up to the year 2021.

“Accordingly, I explained the import of the warning to mean that
any matter that is assigned a date must be heard and determined one
way or the other on that date.

“For appeals that may be discovered to have defects, I advised
counsel to take necessary steps to amend such defects before the
due hearing date. This means that everyone must come to the court
fully prepared for the business of the day, including the justices,
more than anyone else.”

Onnoghen observed that with pre-election and post-election
matters that will arise from the 2019 general election, the apex
court definitely has a lot of job to do this year.

While he noted that the retirement of Justice Clara Bata
Ogunbiyi in February last year, brought the number of justices of
the court to 16, inclusive of the CJN, Onnoghen stressed that the
retirement of another justice later in the year, would further put
pressure on the Bench considering the workload before the
court.

He therefore urged the new justice to see her elevation to the
apex court as timely and positive.

“Your work ethic and integrity are what got you here and I urge
you to do even more to leave your footprints on the sands of time
in this court,” he said.

Before her elevation, Justice Abba Aji was the presiding judge
of the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division.

Her swearing-in Tuesday has however increased the number of
female justices at the apex court to four.