By Emmanuel Thomas
October 22, 2015 – A ministerial nominee, Mr. James Ocholi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) has called on Senate to try as much as possible to reduce to jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to make their job easy and engender quality judgement.
Ocholi who was speaking on the floor of the Senate said that Nigeria is lucky not to have had any of the Supreme Court justices die on the bench.
He said that their work is so tedious that it does not give room for extensive research to enrich their judgement.
He said that in other jurisdiction, Supreme Court justices handle just 15 cases a year, which he said allows them to travel and make extensive research to enrich their judgement. While alluding to a judge that developed wrinkles on the bench that became very fresh after retirement, the lawyer argued that if he is appointed justice minister, he will make sure that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is reduced.
He said that justices at the Supreme Court were not happy that the last Senate did not approve their recommendation to reduce their jurisdiction.
“They are not not happy that they did not approve reduction of their jurisdiction. Their jurisdiction too wide, we need to reduce it. In some countries, Supreme Court justices handle only 15 cases a year, and the travelled out make extensive research that is beneficial for all.
“We need to come to their aid. If I head the ministry, I will ensure that we do something to come to their aid”, he said.
