The Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf, has been urged to modify guidelines on eligibility of participating in the current judicial recruitment in the FCT high court by a non-governmental organization, Access2Justice (A2J).
A2J said that the on-going FCT judicial selection process is already tarnished and undermined by perceptions of “insider dealing”, nepotism and constitutional violation.
According to a statement signed by Programme Attorney for A2J, Mrs Chinelo Chinweze, Justice Baba-Yusuf sent a letter announcing that 12 positions had opened to be filled in the FCT High Court, and requested nominations to fill the existing positions.
“Of special interest to observers and the public has been the stipulation added to the announcement that only candidates from 12 states are eligible to be nominated. These states are Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Zamfara,” it stated.
A2J expressed concern about the recruitment exercise, which it said, was designed from the outset to lead to certain appointments that inexorably exposes the selection exercise to charges of nepotism, illicit “insider dealing” and “horse-trading”.
“Secondly, we are concerned with ensuring that the outcome of the selection process reflects, in a transparent way, the competitive strengths and merits of all candidates (properly) being considered for the positions.
“There are strident concerns that the 12 states your lordship has selected as those from which nominations/applications will be accepted are improperly and unconstitutionally chosen, given the current geo-political composition of the FCT High Court.
“The FCT High Court is understood to already have two Judges who are indigenes of two of the States included in the list. However, some states, such as Ebonyi, from where no current judge(s) of the Court come from, are not included in the list, and so, no Judges from that State will emerge from the current recruitment process if your lordship follows through with the eligibility guidance announced,” the statement reads.
The group stated that going ahead with this judicial appointment cycle using the announced state of origin criteria, notwithstanding these concerns/controversies will further damage the Judiciary’s image, already quite adverse and poor at current standing, and possibly also delay the conclusion of the recruitment process.
It urged the judge to use an independent, external faculty to conduct the preliminary appraisals of all qualified candidates in the shortlisting exercise.
“This will increase the credibility and transparency of the exercise and demonstrate that your lordship is indeed committed to improving the Judiciary, as you have expressed on many occasions.
“Some states like Jigawa state now use external assessors in drawing up the preliminary shortlists, and this builds public confidence in the outcome of the evaluation.
“Lastly, we urge your lordship to stand firmly against the violation of the Nigerian Constitution, which he has sworn to defend and enforce, and resist pressures, no matter where they come from, to influence the discharge of his responsibilities,” the group declared.
