The NJC encourages judicial officers to enhance their performance, warning that failure to do so may result in their removal.
During her address at the Third Annual National Conference on Judges Performance Evaluation, held on Tuesday in Abuja, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, voiced her apprehensions regarding the rising backlog of cases in the courts and the discouraging rate at which judges are resolving these cases.
She said, “As of the 1st quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our Superior Courts of record, exclusive of the Supreme Court. This total is comprised of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases.
“At the last meeting of the committee, there was a reduction in case disposal as some judicial officers failed to deliver a single judgement in one quarter. This is simply unacceptable.
“It is imperative for all of us to take a serious note of this alarming situation and for this purpose, we must re-focus our attention towards enhancing our judicial performance.”
“My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot wish away the growing backlog of cases or expect a different result when we continue to do things the same way.
“Unless we can justly, speedily and effectively execute our roles as judicial officers, the populace will lose their confidence in the judiciary as it is mostly believed rightly or wrongly that the judicial process is often painstakingly slow and tedious. Delayed justice is denied justice.”
The Emir of Lafia and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, HRH Justice Sidi Muhammad, expressed his deep concern over two significant issues. The first is the growing backlog of cases in the superior courts of record, and the second concerns the persistently low performance levels of certain judicial officers.
“At the end of the Second Quarter 2018, when the first Conference was held, there were a total of 137,442 cases pending, however as of the 1st Quarter of 2024 we now have a total of 243, 253 cases pending. This, no doubt, is a staggering number indeed. Urgent and decisive action is required.”
“These practices must stop. Henceforth, any Judicial Officer who is assessed as having persistently poor performance should be identified and recommended by the Committee for removal from office. In light of the above, there is no doubt that this Conference is long overdue.
“I must reiterate that the purpose of the Committee is not to witch-hunt, intimidate, oppress or create fear in the minds of Your Lordships in the course of performing your constitutional and statutory judicial duties. Rather, the Committee seeks to support our Judicial Officers as they expeditiously discharge their adjudicatory responsibilities competently, diligently and in accordance with their Oaths of Office”.
