17 Justices ‘okay for Supreme Court

 

  ON MY HONOUR: Justice Onnoghen taking oath of office...yesterday/Nation.

 The Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria Walter Samuel Onnoghen said yesterday the 17 justices of the Supreme Court were adequate for the country.
Onnoghen said the appointment of more judges and justices as well as creation of more judicial divisions were not solutions to judicial delay and congestion of cases.

He spoke yesterday at the inauguration of the re-modelled and upgraded Court of Appeal, Lagos Complex, in company of Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr. Idiat Oluranti-Adebule, who represented Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
Onnoghen, responding to a call by Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Vice President Monday Ubani for three more divisions of the Appeal Court for speedy justice delivery, noted that it will create more problems.
He said: “We always think we can solve congestion in our courts by appointing more judges and justices and creating more divisions, because the idea is that the more they are, the lesser the job or workload.

“But this has not been proved right. It has rather been proved wrong, because the more divisions you create, the more cases get filed. The solution doesn’t lie in multiplying number of divisions and judges. The more judges and justices you appoint, the more cases that get filed, which points to the fact that we have really not hit the nail on the head.

“The solution lies in making every appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court by leave. It lies in controlling the jurisdiction of the court in the quantity, number of cases that get to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.