Senate mulls bill seeking to increase number of supreme court justices

The senate is considering a bill to raise the number of supreme court justices from 21 to 30.

Osita Izunaso, senator representing Imo west, spoke about the proposal during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, to mark his second year in the 10th national assembly.

He said although the court recently reached its constitutional quota of 21 justices following the appointment of 11 new members in 2023, the figure remains inadequate.

“Even with the full complement of 21 justices, the supreme court is overwhelmed,” he said.

“The volume of cases reaching the court daily is alarming. Some litigants are being given hearing dates as far ahead as 2027 and 2028.”

Izunaso said the proposed legislation would allow the court to form more panels.

“Supreme court justices typically sit in panels of five, or seven for constitutional matters,” he said.

“If we have 30 justices, it allows the formation of at least five panels simultaneously. That way, more cases can be handled at a faster pace.”

‘APEX COURT SHOULD NOT HANDLE LAND CASES’

Izunaso also called for reforms to reduce the types of cases the supreme court admits.

“Why should a land matter in my village end up in the supreme court?” he asked.

“Many of these issues should start from the customary court and end at the high court. The apex court should be reserved for cases of national or constitutional importance — terrorism, homicide, grand corruption.”

He said cases like tenancy disputes or family disagreements should not be allowed at the apex court.

“Do you know that even tenancy disputes, like ‘pay me my rent’ or ‘my landlord kicked me out’, go all the way to the supreme court? This is clogging the system and delaying justice for more critical matters,” he said.

He cited an instance of a case involving deceased litigants, being listed for hearing, three years after it had been resolved by families.

“The case was fixed for 2026, even though the matter had already been settled. That’s an indictment of our system,” he said.

Izunaso rejected the idea of regional supreme courts.

“A unitary supreme court preserves the sanctity and unity of our judicial system. What we need is better filtration at a lower level, not more supreme courts,” he said.

Earlier, Izunaso said the red chamber is considering a bill for the creation of ‘Anim state’ in the south-east geopolitical zone.

The senator said the bill has passed second reading and is now before the senate committee on constitution review.