President, Court of Appeal (PCA): Why Seniority Should Prevail

Judicial precedence favours seniority in appointments to high
offices, writes Juliana Adekwagh

Hon. Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem is the next most senior
judicial officer in the Court of Appeal. As Justice Zainab
Bulkachuwa’s tenure as President, Court of Appeal (PCA) comes to an
end in a few months, judicial precedence dictates that the most
senior Justice, Court of Appeal, Justice Dongban-Mensem will be
nominated by Justice Bulkachuwa to the National Judicial Council
for the position. Surprisingly, the reverse appears to be playing
out. Insider accounts reveal schemes to block her from ascending
the top position.

If Justice Dongban-Mensem goes to the Supreme Court as is being
speculated, it means she is totally ruled out of contention as PCA
and Justice Bulkachuwa can then anoint who she pleases to the
office. This will be standing judicial precedence on its head which
favours seniority in appointments to high offices. One is left to
wonder why the PCA is hell bent on side stepping her
second-in-command and a fellow woman for that matter to step into
her shoes!

Feelers however reveal that since she was made PCA, Bukachuwa
uses command and control leadership style, leaving little or no
room for the judicial officers to operate freely.

Curiously, Justice Bukachuwa, a model of women emancipation
while recusing herself from the Presidential Appeal panel rather
than nominate the Justice next in rank (who is a female) as a way
of keeping faith with her gender, skipped the number two person and
brought on board a male, Justice Mohammed Garba.

The judiciary is a profession that gives much consideration to
seniority. Hon. Justice Tanko Mohammad is Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) today because he was the next most senior jurist at the time
the erstwhile CJN Walter Onnoghen resigned from the office. Clumsy
as the whole affair was, Muhammad had to be CJN because of the
seniority factor.

For 41 years, no Christian has been PCA. Since the late Hon
Justice Daniel Onuorah Ibekwe (PCA 1976-1978), it has been Muslims
from North-east and North-west heading the appellate court. Can we
call this a coincidence? I suspect there is a thick plot designed
to make only a particular group of people to occupy that position.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) must look into this.

The CJN should investigate how the name of Justice Monica
Dongban-Memsem that was not on a list prepared by the National
Judicial Council (NJC) appeared overnight for consideration for
appointment to the Supreme Court.

It should be known that twice, Justice Dongban-Mensem’s name was
picked for elevation to the Supreme Court but powerful forces did
not allow her to enter the Supreme Court. It therefore, becomes
suspicious, the recent love for her and desire to make her a
justice of the Supreme Court. It will be quite unwise for her to go
to the Supreme Court to be Number 18. Her juniors in the Court of
Appeal had been promoted to the Supreme Court at her expense years
ago.

Justice Ayo Salami who Justice Bulkachuwa took over from was the
most senior in his time. Justice Umar Abdullahi was equally the
next in command when he became PCA.

So seniority has always been the deciding factor over the
decades across the diverse judiciary strata in ascending the
highest office.

That of Justice Dongban-Mensem of the Court of Appeal should not
be different. Indeed, she is one of the finest justices this
country has ever produced and a woman of great wisdom and sterling
character. Over the decades, she has demonstrated great commitment
to service. The judiciary and indeed Nigeria as a whole will suffer
a huge loss if regional, tribal and religious sentiments are
allowed to affect her elevation.

My advice to Justice Bulkachuwa is to have consideration for the
Court of Appeal and entrust it in the best of hands available as
she takes her bow. She should let the process of succession the
judiciary is known for take its course. Needless for her to stir
the hornet’s nest.

The judiciary is the only institution that gives Nigerians hope.
It is the last hope of the common man. It should not be desecrated
by power mongers who are imbued with petty jealousy, sectionalism,
bigotry, animosity and ill-will. The CJN must critically watch what
is happening under him. He should get to the bottom of how Justice
Dongban-Mensem’s name found its way onto the list of justices
nominated for appointment to the Supreme Court.

Adekwagh works in a law firm in Makurdi