Judge Petitions CJN Over Illegal Exclusion From CJ List

Justice Beatrice Iliya of the Gombe State High Court has through a letter protested against the National Judicial Council for excluding her name from the list of judges to be considered for appointment as the Chief Judge of the State.

Justice Iliya stated that there was no legal or moral justification for the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to depart from the tradition of appointing the most senior judge as the Chief Judge.

In the letter, dated November 13, addressed to the NJC Chairman and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, Justice Iliya contended that the exclusion of her name from the list sent to the NJC by the Gombe State JSC was a violation of the NJC directive on the appointment of a Chief Judge.

The judge said, “I have been reliably informed that the JSC has sent a memo to the NJC re-submitting the names of Honourable Justice Muazu A. Pindiga and Honourable Justice Joseph Ahmed Awak for appointment of the Chief Judge of Gombe State, excluding my name as the most senior judge, which is not in compliance with the directive of the NJC, following its meeting on 11th August, 2020; and the duo of Honourable Justice Muazu A. Pindiga and Honourable Justice Joseph Ahmed Awak are now being invited for an interview by the NJC Interview Committee to be conducted on the 23rd of November, 2020.

“I wish to state that the current re-nomination made by the JSC is in defiance to the directive earlier issued by the NJC on this matter.”

“I humbly pray for the upright intervention of the NJC to curb the excesses of the JSC and salvage the system of administration of justice in Gombe State,” Justice Iliya stated in the letter