President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) on Wednesday ratified the appointment of Justice Zainab A. Bulkachuwa as Acting President of the Court of Appeal (PCA) — a decision reached at an emergency meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) prior to Friday’s expiration of the appointment of Justice Dalhatu Adamu, the outgoing acting PCA.
Since the suspension of Justice Ayo Salami, the substantive president of the court, Adamu had acted in two consecutive terms allowed by the Act establishing the Court of Appeal.
Justice Bukachawa’s appointment sees the emergence of the first female PCA; and she will take her oath on Friday 23rd November 2012 before Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and Chairman of NJC, Justice Maryam Aloma Muktar at the Supreme Court.
The NJC also directed the CJN to swear in Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as a justice of the Court of Appeal, urging her to at once end the controversies surrounding the delay in performing the swearing in. Justice Jombo-Ofo had been omitted from the oath-taking ceremony on 5th November 2012 on grounds of her state of origin.
“After full and dispassionate deliberations on the matter, the council unanimously decided that Honourable Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo be sworn-in as a Justice of the Court of Appeal,” read a statement signed by Soji Oye, deputy director (information) of the NJC.
“The National Judicial Council held an emergency Meeting on Wednesday 21st November 2012, and noted as follows:
“That the matter of the appointment and swearing-in of the Honourable Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as a Justice of the Court of Appeal has generated so much controversy….
“That the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had, without any consultation with the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is also the chairman of the NJC, proceeded to pass a Resolution on 7th November 2012, to the following effect:
“That the Senate urged the Chief Justice of Nigeria to swear-in Honourable Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as a Justice of the Court of Appeal; and That the Senate urged all Government Employing Agencies to note in terms of employing a married woman, shall lay claims to her state of origin and that of her husband in relation to the Federal Character Regulations.
The NJC also made reference to the binding principles and formulae for the Distribution of all Cadres of Posts (S.I.23 of 1997), which provides in Part II, Section 2 as follows:
“A married woman shall continue to lay claim to her state of origin for the purpose of implementation of the Federal Character formulae at the national level.
“That the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria and chairman of the National Judicial Council had, by letter dated 5th November 2012, duly written to His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR), president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to inform His Excellency of the matter of Honourable Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo and the fact that she was not sworn in on 5th November, 2012 would be tabled before the National Judicial Council.
“That the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council, being Federal Executive Bodies established in pursuance of Section 153(1(i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are bound and obliged to observe and obey the provisions of the Constitutional Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Federal Character Commission Act.
“That the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is also bound and obliged to observe and obey the stipulations of the Constitution and Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Federal Character Commission Act, without prejudice to the undisputed power of the National Assembly to amend and\or repeal the said Act.
“That the Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council must be commended for exercising sufficient caution, diligence and maturity in the matter, especially in the light of the documents, materials and other information available to her, and for taking the decision to put on hold the swearing-in of Honourable Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo as a Justice of the Court of Appeal, to await a Meeting of the National Judicial Council to review the matter in all its ramifications.”
Jombo-Ofo was one of 12 newly appointed justices of the Court of Appeal. The CJN had declined to swear her in because of a petition filed against her but went ahead with the swearing-in of eleven others.
Those already sworn in are Justices Ibrahim S. Bdliya, called to Bar in 1976 and appointed a High Court judge on 20th August 1987; Abiriya James Shehu, called to Bar in 1979 and subsequently appointed a High Court Judge on 17th September 1993; and Obietonbara O. Daniel-Kalio, called to Bar and became a High Court Judge in 1981 and 30th October 1995 respectively; Onyekachi Otisi, called to Bar in 1980 and sworn in as a High Court Judge in November 1998; Stephen Jonah Adah, called to Bar in 1982 and appointed a High Court Judge on 12th November 1998; Tinuade Akomolaje-Wilson, who was sworn in as Judge on 3rd May 1999, having being called to Bar in 1975; and Fatima Akinbami, who was called to Bar in 1977 and sworn in as High Court Judge on 12th May 1999.
Others are Justices Habeeb Adewale Abiru, called to Bar in 1985 and appointed to the High Court Bench in May 2001; Peter Olabisi Ige, sworn in as High Court judge on 27th June 2001 following his call to Bar in 1985; Tijani Abubakar, called to bar in 1985 and sworn in as a High Court Judge in 2004; and Emmanuel Agim sworn in as a High Court judge in 2008.
