From Abuja, Kenneth Udeh
A process to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices from its current 21 to 33 members has commenced at the Red Chambers.
On Tuesday the Bill sponsored by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia-North) was introduced as the third business of the day during plenary to the Senate by the Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele afterwhich it passed reading as ratified by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
According to the details of the proposed amendment sighted by the Sun , section 230 2(b) of the 1999 constitution will be amended to ensure speedy administration of justice in Nigeria.
If enacted by the National Assembly section 230 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution will be amended by deleting ‘21’ and inserting ‘33’ number of Justices.
The Sun reliably learnt that Kalu’s motive to sponsor the bill was borne out of the need to effectively dispense the avalanche of pending cases in the Apex court.
His explanatory memorandum read; “This Bill seeks to amend S. 230 2(b) of 1999 Constitution to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 21 Justices to 33 Justices for speedy and effective dispensation of pending cases”.
According to the Chairman Senate Committee on Privatization the workload of the Supreme Justices has increased due to the number of pending and incoming cases he added that the absence of Supreme Courts in states and regions in the country has worsened the situation.
Furthermore the House of Representatives has commenced a process to increase the number of Appeal Court Justices to 150 which implies that there is also a need to increase the number of Supreme Court Justices because there will be an increased number of cases emanating from the appeal court which the Supreme Court will need to deal with.
