GICN writes CJN, wants appointment of Appeal Court judges cancelled

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) has called for the cancellation of the recent appointment of some justices into the bench of the court of appeal.
The letter of protest addressed to the Chairman of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, who also doubles as the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, described the process of the appointment as lacking transparency and due process.
In the petition dated January 25, 2021 and signed by Esther Wuese Iorhuna, Esq., Compliance Officer, the group said at all times material to its existence, the Commission must be seen to be playing the role of appointment, promotion and discipline of judicial staff in an effective, efficient and trustworthy manner to ensure fair and proper administration of justice to the Nigerian populace.
Therefore, the group called on the Chairman of Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), National Judicial Council (NJC), Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS) as well as other relevant stakeholders in the Justice Sector to rise to the occasion by cancelling the entire process leading to the recent emergence of certain persons as Justices of the Court of Appeal.
The petition reads in part, ‘’Our Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN) is aggrieved to note that the Federal Judicial Service Commission (simply called the “FJSC” or “Commission”) under your leadership has decided to recklessly desecrate the Judiciary, which should be the last hope of the common man. Suffice it to state that Nigerians, particularly, those who followed events at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court last year are yet to recover from the shocks as a result of shabby appointment of Judges done.
‘’We recall that it took the timely intervention of Mr. President before the anomaly created by the said appointment could be remedied.
Today, we are again faced with a worse situation where the FJSC has decided to conduct another appointment exercise for Justices of the Court of Appeal, which many observers describe as fraudulent, obscure, biased and apparent violation of due process.