NJC Meets Thursday To Decide On CJN’s Successor

The National Judicial Council (NJC) will on Thursday meet in Abuja to deliberate on who among the serving Justices of the Supreme Court, should be recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan as successor to the retiring Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar.

This is line with the provision in Section 21(a)(i) of the Constitution.

The section states: “The National Judicial Council shall have power to recommend to the President, from among the list of persons submitted to it by the Federal Judicial Service Commission, persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Justices of the Supreme Court, the President and Justices of the Court of Appeal, the Chief Judge and Judges of the Federal High Court”.

It would be recalled that Justice Mukhtar assumed office as the CJN on July 16, 2012 and will retire on November 20, 2014 when she is expected to attain the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Meanwhile, barring any last minute changes, the current next most senior Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, is expected to be announced as the new CJN, in accordance with long existing tradition.

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