President Buhari Approves Two New Supreme Court Justices

President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved two new Justices for the Supreme Court. Buhari okayed the elevation of Justices Ejembi Eko and Amina A. Augie, to the apex court bench, based on recommendation of the National Judicial Council, NJC.

The Council, in a statement by its Acting Director of Information, Mr. Soji Oye, disclosed that the two new jurists will be sworn in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, on Monday. The CJN who doubles as chairman of the NJC, is due to retire on November 10. Retirement of the CJN, coupled with recent decision of the NJC that Judges facing corruption allegations should step down from the bench, would have depleted the number of Justices at the apex court bench to 13. Two Justices of the Supreme Court- Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, were among seven superior court Judges whose homes were raided by the Depatment of State Service, DSS, between October 7 and 8. The duo, who are currently under administrative bail from the DSS, have not sat in any panel of the apex court since the “sting operation” that led to their expulsion from the bench. Supreme Court had a composition of 16 Justices while Okoro and Ngwuta were on the bench. Vanguard had exclusively reported that FG has drafted criminal charges against the two embattled Supreme Court jurists.