A few constitutional issues in Nigeria may be unclear, but the procedure for the appointment and confirmation of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) is not one of them.  The tenure of a Chief Justice of Nigeria terminates on the 70th birthday of the incumbent.  It is the duty of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to nominate the next candidate for the position, who is usually the most senior justice of the Supreme Court, and forward the name to the president.

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It is the duty of the president to send the nominee’s name and antecedents to the Senate for confirmation.  When the Senate votes in the affirmative, the Chief Justice formally assumes office a day after the retirement of the incumbent.
To take recent examples, the NJC knew Justice Dahiru Musdapher would end his tenure on July 15, 2012 and forwarded the name of Justice Aloma Mukhtar to President Goodluck Jonathan.  President Jonathan promptly sent her name to the Senate on July 4, 2012 and on July 11, 2012, her position as CJN was confirmed by the Senate.  Thus by July 15, when the then incumbent Musdapher was bowing out, a confirmed Chief Justice was ready to step into his shoes.
It was the same process as the tenure of Chief Justice Mukhtar drew to a close.  The NJC sent the name of Justice Mahmud Muhammed to President Jonathan on October 29, 2014.  The Senate confirmed the nominee on November 19, 2014 and by the next day when the Chief Justice was leaving office, there was no vacuum in the judicial system.
The above well laid out seamless tradition seems to have been broken or confounded when at the termination of the tenure of Chief Justice Mahmud Muhammed, the NJC did its traditional duty of nominating the most senior justice of the Supreme Court, who happened to be Justice Onnoghen, but the President, rather than forward the nominee’s name to the Senate for confirmation, chose to appoint him as acting Chief Justice.
Justice Onnoghen’s name was forwarded by the NJC to President Muhammadu Buhari on October 13, 2016, four weeks before the expiration of the tenure of Chief Justice Muhammed.
It is now over 90 days since the President received the nomination of Justice Onnoghen.  By February 10, 2016, it would have been three months since Justice Onnoghen commenced his service as acting Chief Justice, after being nominated for the office by the NJC, pursuant to section 231 (1) (4), of the Nigerian Constitution. However,  his role in that office may cease on February 10 because Section 231 (1) (5,) of the Constitution provides that “Except on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, an appointment pursuant to the provisions of sub-section 4 of this section, shall cease to have effect after the expiration of  three months from the date of such appointment, and the president shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has lapsed…..”
In the recent history of the Nigerian judiciary, no acting CJN has been appointed to head the institution.  But, it is quite clear that the Constitution says that it is the duty of the NJC to select the CJN, and that of the president to forward same to the Senate for confirmation.
We appreciate that the President is a very busy man and, given the myriad of problems confronting the country at this time, he may be given the benefit of the doubt in this matter.
Nigerians expect the President to uphold the law of the land, follow due process and not create a vacuum in the office of the CJN by neglecting to forward the name of the NJC nominee, Justice Onnoghen, to the Senate for confirmation.
Allowing a vacuum or neglecting to forward Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for his confirmation will be an unwholesome precedent, which could lead to national misunderstanding. Further delay in the confirmation of Onnoghen is likely to lead to misgivings, which will be unhealthy for the polity.
The president should forward Justice Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation without any further delay, or publicly justify his seeming reluctance to do so.