Needs Urgent Review
By Lukman Amusa
President Muhammdu Buhari says Nigeria justice administration urgently needs to be review because it is as terribly slow “terribly slow.”
He review this at the first ever virtual annual general conference of the Nigeria bar association.
He made reference to his election petition battles, saying it took too long for the courts to decide and eventually dismiss his cases in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential polls.
The President said: “In the end, I lost all three cases. I wondered then, why it needed to take so long to arrive at a verdict and if I had won the case, someone who did not legitimately win the election would have been in office all that time.
“In 2019, I was no longer petitioner; I became a respondent in the case of Atiku(Abubakar) vs Buhari and the whole process took just over six months.
“What was the difference? The law had changed since my own in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Time limits for election petitions had been introduced. Now, everything must be done within a six to eight-month period.
“My question then, is why can’t we have a time limit for criminal cases? Why can’t we have a rule that will say a criminal trial all the way to the Supreme Court must not exceed 12 months?
“Why can’t we do the same for civil cases? Can’t we say that civil cases must not go beyond between 12 and 15 months? I think that for me will be stepping forward.”
Buhari Recommends 15-Month Time Limit For Court Cases
President Buhari also spoke on three other issues: multiple and conflicting court orders, judicial technicality rather than “clear common sense” and opaque process of appointing judges.
Regarding technicality, he said: “Justice must make sense to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. As a matter of fact, more to non-lawyers because we are in the majority. Triumph of technicalities opens a door for all sorts of speculations about the true motives of the court and can only detract slowly, but surely from the authority of our courts.
“The other issue is on the appointment of judges. I believe that you must continuously improve on the selection processes for the appointment of the men and women who will serve as judges. We must cast our nets wider in search of judges, especially at the appellate level.
“We must put in place primarily merit-based selection processes, including mandatory tests and interviews for all applicants for ‘judgeship.’
“While our 1999 Constitution urges federal character for ballots in appointments generally, this should not be an excuse for mediocrity.”
Also, Chief Justice Muhammad challenged lawyers to strive to become the leading lights of the nation by improving the legal system.
Muhammad stated that the virtual conference underscores the fact that the Bar is setting the pace in many areas of national life.
“For holding this virtual conference in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic exemplifies the doggedness of the Bar under the able leadership of Paul Usoro,” he said.
