In this piece, Deborah Onyofufeke, takes a look at the issues that threw up the newly confirmed Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kayode Ariwoola, what led to the resignation of the immediate past CJN, Ibrahim Tanko, and what is likely to be the new face of the nation’s judiciary and how it affects the criminal justice system

Sequel to the sudden resignation of the former CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko, which came as a shock to many, President Muhammadu Buhari, swore in Justice Kayode Ariwoola, on the 27th of June, as the acting CJN of the country is the next in line.

Following his swearing-in, Justice Ariwoola, had three months to get the Senate’s confirmation or failure, of which the latter, would have required a fresh nomination.

The Senate had on July 26, 2022, received a letter from President Muhammadu Buhari, where he stated that Ariwoola, be screened and subsequently confirmed as the new CJN.

Buhari’s letter, which was dated July 25 was read during plenary by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.

The read, “Under Section 231(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), I forward for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola is the Chief Justice of Nigeria.

“While I hope that the submission will be considered in the usual expeditious manner, please accept, Distinguished Senate President, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

The upper legislative chamber confirmed Ariwoola as CJN, after Abdullahi Gobir, the Senate Leader, moved a motion to screen him in the “committee of the whole”.

The Senate went ahead to screen Ariwoola. After the screening was concluded, Ariwoola, who has been in an acting capacity, was confirmed as the substantive CJN of the country, on the 21st of September, 2022, via a voice vote.

Meanwhile, during his screening, Ariwoola had told the Senators that there was no crisis between the Justices of the Supreme Court, contrary to the insinuations contained in a leaked memo to the immediate past CJN, Mohammed Tanko.

The 14 Justices brothers to Tanko, at the time, had unanimously signed a protest memo, written to him, bearing their grievances and some allegations.

Not long after this memo got out, Justice Tanko resigned. Citing, his resignation on the grounds of ill-health, with unconfirmed reports, stating that, the ex-CJN occasionally suffered memory loss.

His resignation had come at the age of 68, 18 months before his retirement, which would have been due in December 2023, when he will clock 70. The official age for Justices to take the mandatory bow out of the Apex court bench in the country.

On the other hand, other facts revealed that Justice Tanko had already lost the confidence of leadership amongst his Justices brothers at the Supreme Court and at the National Judicial Council, NJC, which prompted him to make the unforeseen exit.

Meanwhile, the NJC is the judicial organ that is responsible for the Appointment, Promotion, and Discipline of Judicial Officers in the country. Every CJN, by judicial codes, automatically becomes the head of the NJC.

Fourteen serving Justices of the apex court, some of whom are also members of the NJC, had in an unprecedented move and passed a vote-of-no-confidence on the ability of Justice Tanko to continue to be in charge of affairs in the judiciary as the CJN.

His fellow justice brothers in a memo that was leaked to the press, accused Tanko, of corruption, mismanagement of funds, and non-payment of their legitimate entitlements for a long time.

They alleged that he ignored their repeated demand for improved welfare, despite the upward review of the budgetary allocation of the Judiciary

They also added that accommodation was not provided for new Justices that were sworn in in 2020.

The Fourteen Supreme Court justices accused Mohammed of not giving justices their legitimate entitlements.

The justices accused him of stopping their annual foreign training, meant to enhance capacity building for the country’s judicial process, while he and his family, have been seen jetting in and out of the country

The main issues put forward by the justices in their letter through a welfare committee were; non-replacement of poor vehicles; accommodation problems; lack of drugs at the Supreme Court clinic; epileptic electricity supply to the Supreme Court; increase in electricity tariff; no increase in the allowances for diesel; lack of internet services to residences and chambers.

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However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ahamba, who spoke on what the new face of the judiciary is likely to take with Justice Ariwoola’s confirmation, expressed confidence in him.

He said, “He knows if anything is wrong with it, he knows and believes he will go on the right part. So, he has been a member of the Supreme Court. He has been a very straightforward judge to the best of my knowledge.”

On why Ariwoola stated that there was no crisis amongst the Apex court justices before the immediate past CJN’s resignation, he also averred there was no crisis as the supposed crisis reported was made up by the press

“It was the press that created a crisis, not the Justices. They wrote an internal letter to correct things internally, but somebody leaked it to the press and before they could look into it, the press burst onto the whole world as a crisis. That was not right,” he said

He also explained that the criminal justice system is likely not to experience any dramatic changes because “the criminal justice system is a statutory matter. He has no power to change the status, so he will apply for the status as it is.”

Also, a lawyer, Olatunji Salawu, said he believes the new CJN is going to give the nation’s judiciary a new face with a major needed change.

“From the confirmation (screening) of the CJN, I was privileged to watch the proceeding, from what he has said, he seems to me like someone who understands the problem of the judiciary. If his responses are anything to go by, I believe, Judiciary is going in for the necessary change. Most importantly, is his promise to liaise with the legislative body, that is, the National assembly, in reviewing some of those things we consider as a clog to the will of Justice in Nigeria.

“As I said, most of these things are a matter of constitutional reforms because Judiciary, particularly the court are the creation of the constitution and when we talk about judicial powers and the functionality of courts, they are a matter of constitution.

“There are a lot of inherent lapses in the constitution as a whole, concerning the judiciary as a body, so when, a Chief Justice of Nigeria has promised that he is going to look into those contradictories and work with the relevant bodies, I think he understands the problem.

“He has little time but I can say with optimism that the Judiciary in Nigeria will no longer be the same. At least we are going to have a little change from the appointment of chief Justice Ariwoola and that’s my perspective.”

Speaking on Justice Ariwoola’s no-crisis comment, he explained that he believes the CJN spoke the truth.

He said, “It was as smart as he could say it. Of course, there is no smoke without fire. He acknowledged that there is a problem and there’s a difference between a problem and a crisis. I think it is a choice of words and as a Justice, I believe his choice of words was deliberate. Of course, there was a problem, but he said it did not generate into crisis and I think he explained it.

“From what I gathered, he said they have severally tried to explain it one on one, that is oral with the former CJN, and each time the matter comes up and they refer the former chief Justice to it, his usual response was that he forgot and if you also note, that’s the reason why the former Chief Justice of Nigeria resigned. It’s because of his failing health. And at that age, I think it’s normal.

“The choice of word I believe is deliberate by the chief Justice Ariwoola. He doesn’t want to create a kind of Judiciary that is divided against himself. As he said, he said all of them, out of 15 Justices, 14 of them, were signatories to the memo. He said they took percussions in ensuring that it is within but you know in Nigeria, a lot of things happen.

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“I don’t know, the leakage itself is part of what nobody can guarantee but certainly from his explanation, it wasn’t from the Justices of the Supreme Court. I think that is how I see it. There was no crisis because one, the judiciary have their problems, they have their challenges but if they can solve others, they should also know how to solve their own better.”

Speaking on how Ariwoola’s confirmation would affect the criminal justice system, he said, “That is a big question because the administration of criminal justice is a bit complex. As I said, the court is just one way and besides, there are years of court. Start from the magistrate court or even the area court in some places.

“The administration of criminal justice starts from that area. Incidentally, we also don’t have one uniform law concerning the administration of criminal justice. Yes, for the federal court, and the likes, we have the administration of the criminal Justice Act of 2015, but, being a federal law, not many, I stand to be corrected.

“Not up to 15 states out of the 36 states in Nigeria, minus FCT because FCT by law is the federal capital territory, and administration of criminal justice automatically applies there but out of the remaining 36 states, I don’t think up to 15 have domesticated that law. And so, we still have some problems before it.

“And also, we have the problem of criminal justice with the police, and the other investigative and prosecuting agencies. These are factors also addressed in the new administration of criminal justice but as I said, since it is, when you talk about the role of criminal Justice in Nigeria or the Supreme Court, as a whole, it applies to all the federation. It is a final cut, the delay and whatever it is is a stink of whatever might be there.”