Bulkachuwa Defends Appointment of 14 Justices to A’Court Bench

The President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Zainab
Bulkachuwa yesterday said that due process was followed in the
appointment of 14 Justices into the Court of Appeal Bench.

She added that the appointment was to fill vacancies which arose
from retirement, death and elevation to Supreme Court Bench of some
Justices from certain zones of the country.

Justice Bulkachuwa who stated this during the opening of the
2017 Court of Appeal Judges Conference held at the headquarters of
the Court in Abuja added that the court within the year delivered a
total of 3, 001 judgements and at the same heard about 6, 963
appeals.

New Telegraph recalled that allegation bothering on exclusion of
Judges from the South East had trailed the elevation of 14 Justices
to the Court of Appeal Bench. Justice Bulkachuwa, however, stated
that judges appointed were from the zones where vacancies existed
on the Bench of the court.

Justice Bulkachuwa said: “I would like to seize this opportunity
to straighten the fact on the ongoing process of elevation of
judges to the Court of Appeal.

It is strictly based on merit with particular preference for
Judges who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their
Judgements in the lower courts and to fill in vacancies created by
the death, retirement or elevation to the Supreme Court of our
former justices. “Sometimes back, the Judiciary came under heavy
attacks on allegation of corrupt practices.

As judicial officers, it is not enough to simply talk about
corrupt practices but one must believe in the fight against
corruption and we must work at it together. I therefore, urge us
all to eschew corruption and uphold best practices that will
rekindle and bring back trust to the judicial arm of government.
Let’s not ask how corruption can be tackled; our main focus should
be on what we can do as individuals, or collectively as a body to
address this plague.

“I would like to inform this auspicious gathering that during
the 2016 /2017 Legal year, a pragmatic framework was set as an
indicator to clear backlog of appeals in the sixteen Judicial
Divisions of the Court of Appeal. It is against this backdrop that
a special taskforce was set up to clear this backlog.

The President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Zainab
Bulkachuwa yesterday said that due process was followed in the
appointment of 14 Justices into the Court of Appeal Bench.

She added that the appointment was to fill vacancies which arose
from retirement, death and elevation to Supreme Court Bench of some
Justices from certain zones of the country.

Justice Bulkachuwa who stated this during the opening of the
2017 Court of Appeal Judges Conference held at the headquarters of
the Court in Abuja added that the court within the year delivered a
total of 3, 001 judgements and at the same heard about 6, 963
appeals.

New Telegraph recalled that allegation bothering on exclusion of
Judges from the South East had trailed the elevation of 14 Justices
to the Court of Appeal Bench. Justice Bulkachuwa, however, stated
that judges appointed were from the zones where vacancies existed
on the Bench of the court.

Justice Bulkachuwa said: “I would like to seize this opportunity
to straighten the fact on the ongoing process of elevation of
judges to the Court of Appeal.

It is strictly based on merit with particular preference for
Judges who have distinguished themselves by the quality of their
Judgements in the lower courts and to fill in vacancies created by
the death, retirement or elevation to the Supreme Court of our
former justices. “Sometimes back, the Judiciary came under heavy
attacks on allegation of corrupt practices.

As judicial officers, it is not enough to simply talk about
corrupt practices but one must believe in the fight against
corruption and we must work at it together. I therefore, urge us
all to eschew corruption and uphold best practices that will
rekindle and bring back trust to the judicial arm of government.
Let’s not ask how corruption can be tackled; our main focus should
be on what we can do as individuals, or collectively as a body to
address this plague.

“I would like to inform this auspicious gathering that during
the 2016 /2017 Legal year, a pragmatic framework was set as an
indicator to clear backlog of appeals in the sixteen Judicial
Divisions of the Court of Appeal. It is against this backdrop that
a special taskforce was set up to clear this backlog.