It was a great relief to many Nigerians on Wednesday when it was confirmed that the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has forwarded the name of Justice Samuel Walter Onnoghen to the Senate for confirmation as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. The action was long overdue but it is better late than never. The Acting President forwarded the nomination to the Senate after he had reportedly received the clearance to do so from President Muhammadu Buhari, who is presently on vacation in the United Kingdom.
Justice Onnoghen, the most senior Supreme Court Justice, was nominated by the National Judicial Commission (NJC) to President Buhari on October 13, 2016, as required by law. This was done four clear weeks before the expiration of the tenure of the then incumbent Chief Justice Mahmud Muhammed. In the past, it was considered a formality that the President would immediately transmit the name of the nominee to the Senate for confirmation so that when the incumbent bows out, there would be no vacuum. But for reasons that are unclear, President Buhari, rather than forward Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation, elected to appoint him Acting Chief Justice, a position he has held till date.
Anxiety over the appointment of Justice Onnoghen arose because of the constitutional stipulation that the appointment of an Acting Chief Justice shall lapse after 90 days and that the president shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment had lapsed. By the provisions of Section 231 (1) (5), therefore, the appointment of Justice Onnoghen and his future on the high bench would have ended today, February 10, 2017, had the Acting President not taken the constitutional step of forwarding his name to the Senate for confirmation.
The Senate President is known to have personally received the letter delivered to his residence by the Senior Personal Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang. The Senate, on its part, would commence action on the confirmation as soon as it is back from its three-week break on February 21.
It would either forward the letter to the appropriate committee or have the “Committee of the Whole” perform the screening and confirmation.
The anxiety over Justice Onnoghen’s confirmation was due to two principal reasons. First, he has been a reputable judge throughout his career and it would have been a great loss to the institution to lose a judge who once had the courage to join a minority opinion to rule in favour of then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in an election petition appeal. Secondly, Justice Onnoghen would punctuate the monopoly of the Chief Justice seat by judges from the Northern part of Nigeria who have held the position continuously for the past 30 years.
Unlike other branches of government, the judiciary has had a seamless tradition of smooth succession since 1958, and if that tradition must be broken, the Presidency owed Nigerians an explanation. Indeed, we think it was indiscreet, on the part of the Presidency to keep Nigeria in so much suspense over the confirmation of Justice Onnoghen’s appointment.
A president may, within the law, break from tradition but he must not keep the country in the dark for too long or permit dangerous rumours and conspiracy theories to take root and undermine the nation’s unity.
We urge the Senate to do a thorough job of screening Justice Onnoghen and, if possible, expedite the process of his confirmation as CJN as soon as it resumes. A great deal of work, including reforms, modernisation and digitisation, need to be done in the judiciary to bring it up to the expectations of Nigerians. The confirmation of his appointment should not be unduly delayed so that he can begin the reformation of the judiciary in earnest.