By Ken Afor
President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria has submitted the name of Justice Haruna Tsammani, who presided over the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), along with 10 other justices, for screening and confirmation to serve on the Supreme Court bench.
This was disclosed in a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during the plenary on Wednesday.
It would be recalled, Justice Tsammani was among the justices recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) during its 104th meeting on Wednesday, December 6.
The recommended justices will fill the vacant positions at the Supreme Court following the death and resignations of some justices.
The recommended Justices are Justice Haruna Tsammani (North-East), who chaired the Presidential Election Petition Court, Justice Moore Adumein (South-South), Justice Jummai Sankey (North-Central), Justice Chidiebere Uwa (South-East), and Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (South-East)
The others include Justice Obande Ogbuinya (South-East), Justice Stephen Adah (North-Central), Justice Habeeb Abiru (South-West), Justice Jamilu Tukur (North-West), Justice Abubakar Umar (North-West) and Justice Mohammed Idris (North-Central).
The confirmation request was referred by the Senate President to the Senate Committee on Judiciary for screening and additional legislative input.
The current composition of the Supreme Court bench consists of 10 justices, which is insufficient as it falls short of the mandated 21 judges.
Out of the six geo-political zones in the country, only four are adequately represented on the Supreme Court bench. The South-West and North-East regions have three justices each, while the South-South and North-West regions have two justices each.
The Supreme Court bench currently lacks any representation from the South-East and North-Central regions.
With the retirement of Dattijo Muhammad from Niger State, North-Central, in October and the unfortunate passing of Centus Nweze from Enugu State, South-East, in July, the Supreme Court bench no longer has any representatives from these two regions.
If the nominated justices are approved, the South-East region will be represented by three justices at the Supreme Court.
Similarly, the North-Central region will also have three justices serving on the Supreme Court bench.
