Nigerian Legal experts have expressed advocation for the division of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) role, citing the Nigerian judiciary’s progress as vital.
The call was made on Tuesday in a statement after a conference themed, Impact of Judicial Accountability on Public Trust in the Legal System”, organised by the TAP Initiative in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation.
Signatories to the statement included Senior Advocates of Nigeria such as, Jibrin Okutepa and Adamson Adeboro, alongside Mbasekei Martin Obono, Esq and Victoria Benson.
They proposed that the CJN’s responsibilities regarding the National Judicial Council, Federal Judicial Service Commission, National Judicial Institute, and Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee should operate separately.
The conference called for continued discussions surrounding these issues, encouraging all Nigerians to express their opinions, as well as emphasising that calls for accountability should be seen as an opportunity for the judiciary to recover their public trust.
The conference further recommended enhancing the integrity standards for judge appointments and making the process more transparent.
It also submitted the strengthening of the National Judicial Council’s (NJC) capacity to hold judicial officers accountable. While stating that the NJC’s code of ethics for judicial officers requires no revision, it stressed the importance of the CJN demonstrating political will to investigate and penalise misconduct by judges.
“The participants and discussants suggested that the conference should be held periodically to assess the state of accountability in Nigeria’s judiciary,” the statement concluded.
Chinedum Anayo