To speed up the hearing and decision of cases for effective and efficient justice delivery in the nation, the House of Representatives has recommended the Federal Government to appoint nine new judges to the Supreme Court.
The resolution came after Patrick Umoh (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) won a motion of urgent national concern during a plenary on Thursday in Abuja.
In his application, he claimed that the Supreme Court’s existing membership had fallen to an all-time low of 11 justices, leaving it 10 short of the 21 judges required under the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution.
As parties could not schedule hearing dates for cases filed inside the year, with the exception of election petitions, he claimed that the Supreme Court’s docket is already full for 2023.
He claims that the high number of cases the court is currently hearing is to blame for this.
He voiced worry that the Supreme Court’s lack of fresh justice appointments has slowed down swift, effective, and efficient justice delivery and hampered business dealings and economic growth.
Umoh said that it has also reduced the public’s access to justice and put the court’s current justices under a great deal of mental and physical strain. He noted that this circumstance had an impact on the court’s ability to make policy.
He praised President Bola Tinubu for promising to assist the courts and advance the rule of law.
He also praised the president for enacting the constitutional amendment that unified the judicial officers’ retirement age and pension benefits.
The House ordered the Committee on Federal Judiciary to guarantee that the resolution was followed when it adopted the motion.