President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to screen and confirm 11 justices recommended for the Supreme Court bench.
Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during the plenary on Wednesday.
The National Judicial Council recommended 11 nominees to Tinubu for appointment as Supreme Court Justices, pending their confirmation by the Senate.
The NJC made the recommendation after receiving a list of 22 nominees to fill the vacant positions at the Supreme Court following the death and resignations of some justices.
The recommended Justices are Justice Haruna Tsammani (North-East), who chaired the Presidential Election Petition Court, Justice Moore Adumein (South-South), Justice Jummai Sankey (North-Central), Justice Chidiebere Uwa (South-East), and Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (South-East).
The others include Justice Obande Ogbuinya (South-East), Justice Stephen Adah (North-Central), Justice Habeeb Abiru (South-West), Justice Jamilu Tukur (North-West), Justice Abubakar Umar (North-West) and Justice Mohammed Idris (North-Central).
The Senate President referred the confirmation request to the Senate Committee on Judiciary for screening and further legislative input.
The Supreme Court bench currently has 10 justices, which falls below the statutory requirement of 21 judges.
Only four of the six geo-political zones of the country are represented on the Supreme Court bench. South-West and North-East have three justices each; South-South and North-West have two each.
The South-East and North-Central regions do not have any representation on the Supreme Court bench.
The two zones lost their last representatives on the Supreme Court bench with the retirement of Dattijo Muhammad from Niger State, North-Central, in October and the death of Centus Nweze from Enugu State, South-East, in July.
If the recommended justices are confirmed, the South-East will have three justices represented at the Supreme Court.
North-Central will also have three justices represented on the Supreme Court bench.
