Reps Oppose Bill Seeking NBA’s Approval Before Appointment Of Judges

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila;
and the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; and members of the chamber, on
Wednesday, faulted a bill seeking to make lawyers under the
umbrella of the Nigerian Bar Association approve the appointment of
judges.

The criticism forced the sponsor, Anthony Afe, to withdraw the
Constitution amendment bill at the second reading.

The legislation is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter Provisions
of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As
Amended) to Create Additional Criteria for the Appointment of
Judges and for Other Related Matters, 2020.’

Leading the debate on the bill, Afe said, “This is a bill
seeking to further alter the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as
it relates to the mode and criteria for appointing high court
judges to ensure that cerebral lawyers who are not privileged in
society have opportunity to rise to the judiciary to deepen our
jurisprudence that once caught the attention of global legal
minds.

“A saying which captures very graphically the danger in the
present mode of appointment of high court judges is the statement
that an incompetent judge is more dangerous to a society than a
corrupt judge. The veracity of the above statement lies in the fact
that corruption when established against a judicial officer
attracts stiff penalties unlike incompetence that does not have a
remedy.

“Having regard to the above and the importance attached to the
judicial process, it is imperial that the process of appointment of
judges that will herald competent legal minds into the judiciary
should be the concern of the legislature, to restore the waning
confidence of Nigerians in the judicial process, thus an
introduction of a new Subsection 6 of Section 273 that reads, ‘A
person shall not be qualified to be appointed Judge if he does not
secure the endorsement of 2/3 members of the local branch of the
Nigerian Bar Association where he registered.’”

The sponsor added, “It is high time we went back to the old
standards premised on quality, competence and integrity which once
defined our judicial system.

“Thus, the provisions in this bill are some innovations to
tackle the mode of appointment of judges to make it more
participatory for members of the legal profession as one of the
lines of action to prevent incompetent and corrupt persons from
getting into the bench.

“The jurisprudential values of judicial pronouncements have
continued to take a downward slide. This is an existential
challenge which the Legislature must not hesitate to tackle.
Cronyism which is responsible for the rot in the judiciary will
ease out with the proposed amendment.”

The Deputy Majority Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, however, faulted
the proposal as likely to expose judges to politics, citing Section
271 of the Constitution.

She said, “My brother is trying to add an amendment to say that
the appointment of a judge of a Federal High Court shall have an
additional requirement. I beg to differ here. We are trying to make
sure that there is no corrupt judge anywhere but you are subjecting
them to two-thirds votes of the NBA. What are you trying to say?
You are trying to expose them to people who now determine the
appointment of judges.”

Also, Iduma Igariwey also criticised the bill, stating that the
appointment of judges is an executive function.

Gbajabiamila, while noting that the bill only seeks to create
another layer in the appointment of judges, pointed out that the
NBA would be influential in the appointments. “They are going to
lobby those before whom they are going to appear, so there is
compromise already,” he said.

Wase also said, “I want to beg the mover of this bill to kindly
step it down for the obvious reasons that have been mentioned. We
are not yet there. By the time you allow this bill to pass, and
then you allow our judges to go and lobby the lawyers who will
appear before them, and then determine who is going to be a judge,
then you are already a compromised person.

Afe, consequently, asked that the bill be stepped down.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila;
and the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase; and members of the chamber, on
Wednesday, faulted a bill seeking to make lawyers under the
umbrella of the Nigerian Bar Association approve the appointment of
judges.

The criticism forced the sponsor, Anthony Afe, to withdraw the
Constitution amendment bill at the second reading.

The legislation is titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Alter Provisions
of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As
Amended) to Create Additional Criteria for the Appointment of
Judges and for Other Related Matters, 2020.’

Leading the debate on the bill, Afe said, “This is a bill
seeking to further alter the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as
it relates to the mode and criteria for appointing high court
judges to ensure that cerebral lawyers who are not privileged in
society have opportunity to rise to the judiciary to deepen our
jurisprudence that once caught the attention of global legal
minds.

“A saying which captures very graphically the danger in the
present mode of appointment of high court judges is the statement
that an incompetent judge is more dangerous to a society than a
corrupt judge. The veracity of the above statement lies in the fact
that corruption when established against a judicial officer
attracts stiff penalties unlike incompetence that does not have a
remedy.

“Having regard to the above and the importance attached to the
judicial process, it is imperial that the process of appointment of
judges that will herald competent legal minds into the judiciary
should be the concern of the legislature, to restore the waning
confidence of Nigerians in the judicial process, thus an
introduction of a new Subsection 6 of Section 273 that reads, ‘A
person shall not be qualified to be appointed Judge if he does not
secure the endorsement of 2/3 members of the local branch of the
Nigerian Bar Association where he registered.’”

The sponsor added, “It is high time we went back to the old
standards premised on quality, competence and integrity which once
defined our judicial system.

“Thus, the provisions in this bill are some innovations to
tackle the mode of appointment of judges to make it more
participatory for members of the legal profession as one of the
lines of action to prevent incompetent and corrupt persons from
getting into the bench.

“The jurisprudential values of judicial pronouncements have
continued to take a downward slide. This is an existential
challenge which the Legislature must not hesitate to tackle.
Cronyism which is responsible for the rot in the judiciary will
ease out with the proposed amendment.”

The Deputy Majority Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, however, faulted
the proposal as likely to expose judges to politics, citing Section
271 of the Constitution.

She said, “My brother is trying to add an amendment to say that
the appointment of a judge of a Federal High Court shall have an
additional requirement. I beg to differ here. We are trying to make
sure that there is no corrupt judge anywhere but you are subjecting
them to two-thirds votes of the NBA. What are you trying to say?
You are trying to expose them to people who now determine the
appointment of judges.”

Also, Iduma Igariwey also criticised the bill, stating that the
appointment of judges is an executive function.

Gbajabiamila, while noting that the bill only seeks to create
another layer in the appointment of judges, pointed out that the
NBA would be influential in the appointments. “They are going to
lobby those before whom they are going to appear, so there is
compromise already,” he said.

Wase also said, “I want to beg the mover of this bill to kindly
step it down for the obvious reasons that have been mentioned. We
are not yet there. By the time you allow this bill to pass, and
then you allow our judges to go and lobby the lawyers who will
appear before them, and then determine who is going to be a judge,
then you are already a compromised person.

Afe, consequently, asked that the bill be stepped down.