Access2Justice cautions CJN on invitation of CJs

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko has been reminded  that judges are decisionally independent of one another and therefore not accountable to their Chief Justices for decisions they make and therefore no need for the CJN to summon Chief Justices of states for decisions rendered by individual judges.

Access 2Justice, a non-governmental organization made the observation following the decision of the CJN to summon CJS over conflicting decisions rendered by judges.

Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko had summoned the Chief Judges of 6 States (Rivers, Kebbi, Cross River, Anambra, Jigawa and Imo states) as a prelude to the broader probe by the NJC to explain what warranted issuance of conflicting orders by courts of coordinate jurisdiction in their domains.

In a statement,  signed by  Joseph Otteh, Convener and Deji Ajare, Project Director, Access2Justice noted that the Chief Justice of Nigeria (“CJN”) has taken proactive steps to address an insidious and portentous threat to constitutional democracy  but has not followed a laid-back and reactive complaint system favoured by the National Judicial Council’s disciplinary system before interrogating the actions of the Judges who engaged in making the conflicting orders. 

“However, Access to Justice is concerned that the CJN would summon Chief Judges of States over actions performed by individual Judges of their respective courts. This is because the Judiciary is an independent branch of government, and Judges too, are decisionally independent of one another and are not accountable to their Chief Judges for decisions they give or orders they make”, Access2Justice said.