Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, will swear-in 58 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) on Monday, November 27, 2023, at the main courtroom of the Supreme Court, as part of programmes lined up for the 2023/2024 legal year of the court.
In line with the age-long tradition, the CJN will, during the special court session, deliver a state-of-the judiciary address that would highlight the performance of the Supreme Court, in particular, and the Nigerian Judiciary in general in the 2022/2023 legal year.
Director of Press and Information at the apex court, Akande Festus, made this known in a statement he issued in Abuja, yesterday.
According to him, other leading stakeholders will present speeches bordering on the state of the justice sector at the occasion.
They include: Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chairman of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN), and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
It will be recalled that 114 applications were received by the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) for the award of SAN in 2023. Of the number, 101 are advocates while 13 are academics.
The number of qualified applicants shortlisted after the Advocates 1st and 2nd Filtration Stages, Academic Pre-qualification, Academic 2nd Filtration Exercise, the Independent Appeals Hearing and Chambers Inspection Exercises was 69, comprising: 57 advocates and 12 academics.
After conducting the specified screening and exercises, which include a number of appearances in superior courts, recommendations by justices of the Supreme Court and judges of superior courts, chamber inspections; approval on eligibility and integrity of the candidates from the Nigerian Bar Association, Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the general public, among others.
The Supreme Court commenced its vacation on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Though the court had started sitting since Monday, September 18, 2023, the new legal year ceremony is to be formally held in accordance with tradition.
Meanwhile, National Judicial Council (NJC) has disowned social media reports credited to it, that it received nomination list for Supreme Court vacancies from the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).
The council’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, made the clarification in Abuja, yesterday.
He said he never had any discussion with anybody regarding the list of nominees from the FJSC. He described the social media reports as deliberate handiwork of mischief-makers.
Oye insisted that reports on such matters are always by official press statements from the council, through his office.
The NJC spokesperson cautioned against unverified reports circulating on social media regarding the apex court nominations and the process being followed to fill vacancies on the bench.
NAN notes that there were reports stating that the FJSC released 22 names for NJC’s consideration to fill vacancies at the apex court bench.
The nomination reportedly includes regional distribution of candidates across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
According to the report, the nomination of justices for the bench followed complaints in September that the Supreme Court was operating with only 10 out of its constitutional strength of 21 justices.
Based on the depletion in number of justices due to retirement and deaths, it was reported that the FJSC subsequently submitted a shortlist to address the vacant positions.
Oye warned that the media especially, social media operators, should always get their information from the right source to avoid misinforming the public.
