Senate Increases Number Of Appeal Court Justices To 90

ABUJA, January 19, (THEWILL) - The Senate on Thursday increased the number of judges at the Appeal Court to 90 with the hope that it would facilitate the quick dispensation of justice in the country.

The Appeal Court had only 70 judges before the Senate raise. 

The Senate also endorsed a bill criminalizing illegal printing and circulation of fake Acts of the National Assembly by unauthorized persons. The bill is titled Acts Authentication Act 1962 (Amendment) Bill 2011.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Umaru Dahiru (Sokoto South), while submitting the report on a bill seeking to amend the Court of Appeal Act 2005 (Amendment) Bill, 2011, said the need to increase the number of justices was necessitated by the creation of additional Divisions of the Court across the country.

He added that it was also to deal with the exigency of clearing the high volume of election petition cases, which have affected disposal of other cases pending before the court.

He added that the request to further amend the Court of Appeal Act was predicated on the fact there was an increase in the number of Courts and failure to increase the number of Justices may pose a threat to the health of Justices based on heavy workload.

“With this amendment, the number of Justices will now be five as against three Justices we currently have per Division of the Court expect Lagos, Abuja and Enugu Divisions that would be presided over by 10 Justices due to heavy workload”, he stated.

The Committee noted that each Division having five justices, the issue of not forming a quorum for sitting, would be drastically reduced and lead to quick dispensation of justice.

The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, while commenting on the bill to criminalize illegal printing of laws, warned that "no private printer should go and print Acts passed by the National Assembly."

The Senate also received President Goodluck Jonathan’s request to confirm the nomination of Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde as the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to further empower him tackle the menace of corruption in the country. The senate resolved to screen him in the committee of the whole.

However, the Senate has suspended Plenary till January 31 to allow for its standing committees attend to budget defence by ministries, departments and agencies.