- NJC to hold emergency meeting wednesday
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
With just two days
left to the expiration of the tenure of the acting Chief Justice of
Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, acting President Yemi Osinbajo
tuesday transmitted his name to the Senate for confirmation as the
substantive CJN.
Confirming this tuesday, a source close
to the Office of the Senate President, said Senate President Bukola
Saraki received the letter yesterday, requesting the upper chamber to
screen and confirm Justice Onnoghen, a Cross River State indigene, as
the substantive CJN.
Also, a ranking senator speaking on the
condition of anonymity, said he was aware that the acting president had
transmitted Justice Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation.
However, he cautioned that just because
the presidency had transmitted Justice Onnoghen’s name, it should not
expect the Senate to rubber stamp his nomination without a thorough
investigative and screening process.
He also pointed that the Senate was
currently on recess, so it would be left to Saraki to decide whether to
reconvene the Senate to kick-start the screening process before Justice
Onnoghen’s tenure as acting CJN lapses on Friday.
“The Senate President is in receipt of
the letter from the acting president, but it will be left to Senator
Saraki to reconvene plenary to start the screening process.
“But even if he does so, the presidency
should not expect us to rubber stamp Justice Onnoghen’s nomination, as
we would have to carry out our own background checks, investigation and
screening before deciding whether to confirm him or not,” the senator
said.
Also, another presidency source informed
THISDAY that given the lack of sufficient time to conclude Justice
Onnoghen’s screening in two days
before the expiration of his tenure as the acting CJN, Osinbajo, based
on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), could
renew it as an interim measure while the Senate goes about the screening
and confirmation exercise.
In this regard, the NJC, THISDAY learnt,
will hold an emergency meeting today to recommend the renewal of
Justice Onnoghen’s tenure as the acting CJN.
Curiously, Justice Onnoghen, who doubles as the chairman of the NJC, will preside over the meeting.
A source with the NJC said that the
council would meet to recommend Justice Onnoghen to the acting president
for reappointment in an acting capacity, as this would not require
Senate confirmation.
“While serving in an acting capacity for
the second time, the Senate will go about its business screening him at
its own pace,” the source who was in the know of the likely outcome of
the meeting, confided in THISDAY.
Justice Onnoghen’s reappointment as CJN in an acting capacity will be in line with Section 231(4) and (5) of the constitution.
The section states: “If the office of
Chief Justice of Nigeria is vacant or if the person holding the office
is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then
until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of
that office, or until the person holding the office has resumed those
functions, the President shall appoint the most Senior Justice of the
Supreme Court to perform those functions.
“Except on the recommendation of the
NJC, the appointment pursuant to the provisions of sub-section (4) of
this section shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three
months from the date of such appointment and the President shall not
reappoint a person whose appointment has lapsed.”
In recent weeks, pressure has been mount
on the presidency to appoint Justice Onnoghen the substantive CJN after
northerners had held the post for 30 years.
The transmission of Justice Onnoghen’s
name to the Senate follows the clean bill he was given by the Department
of State Service (DSS) that has been involved in the probe of some
judges of the Supreme Court and other lower courts.
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