By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the appointment of 200 additional judges for the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, citing rising caseloads, security-related prosecutions and the growing complexity of economic and regulatory disputes.
The request was contained in two separate bills transmitted to the upper chamber and read at plenary on Tuesday by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, as lawmakers resumed sitting after the Christmas and New Year recess.
Under the proposals, Tinubu seeks to amend the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, to increase the number of justices on the Court of Appeal from 70 to 110. He is also proposing amendments to the Federal High Court Act, 2004, to raise the number of judges from 70 to 90.
According to the President, the expansion has become necessary because the existing judicial structure is no longer able to cope with the volume and nature of cases before the courts.
“The workload of the courts has increased significantly, especially with the emergence of specialised and complex areas of litigation such as terrorism, taxation and other aspects of federal jurisdiction,” Tinubu said in the explanatory notes attached to the bills.
He argued that the current number of judges “is no longer sufficient to meet the demands of justice delivery in a rapidly evolving legal and governance environment.”
Beyond increasing the workforce, the proposed amendment to the Court of Appeal Act also seeks to modernise court operations by introducing electronic and visual transmission of proceedings, while updating several terminologies in the law to align with contemporary judicial practices.
For the Federal High Court, the President recalled that the court was initially established with 50 judges, a number that was increased to 70 in 2009, but said recent developments had made further expansion unavoidable.
“The volume and complexity of cases before the Federal High Court have outgrown its current capacity,” Tinubu said, adding that the proposed increase to 90 judges would “enhance efficiency, reduce delays and ensure speedier administration of justice.”
He further noted that appointing more judges with expertise in emerging areas of law would strengthen institutional competence and improve public confidence in the judiciary.
In a related development, President Tinubu also forwarded the name of Oyewole Joseph to the Senate for confirmation as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The Senate is expected to subject the two bills and the nomination to legislative scrutiny in line with its constitutional mandate.
