By Editor
•Supreme Court loses judge, Okowa mourns The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, has ordered heads of courts to guide their subordinates against conflicting rulings.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the 2021 roundtable for top jurists to generate ideas, initiatives and reforms for speedy justice, competency, expertise and capacity, the CJN reminded the judges that by virtue of their positions, they were to be held responsible for inadequacies of their subordinates.
He said: “Your job as heads of courts is sacred and it includes vicariously taking the sins of others.” Muhammad, who is also Chairman, Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), charged the arbiters to establish structures geared at transforming the justice temples into modern, thriving and responsible institutions.
The CJN regretted that in recent times, the judiciary has been in a negative spotlight owing to conflicting judgments. Justice Muhammad, therefore, implored the court heads to establish an efficient court management structure that encourages higher performance.
Earlier, Administrator of the NJI, Justice Salisu Abdullahi, said the event was to explore contemporary issues in court administration and the judiciary as a whole.
RELATEDLY, the Supreme Court, yesterday, lost Justice Samuel Chukwudumebi Oseji after a protracted illness at the National Hospital, Abuja.
A statement by Director of Press and Information, Dr. Akamde Festus said the Idumuje Unor, Aniocha North Local Council of Delta State native was born in Jos, Plateau State on June 2, 1954 to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Oseji.
The release added: “He attended Nigerian People’s High School, Lagos between 1977 and 1979, and later proceeded to St. Patrick’s College, Asaba, Delta State where he completed his secondary school education in 1980. He was admitted into the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1980 and had his LLB Degree in 1984, and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985.” ALSO yesterday, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa mourned the departed judge.
To honour the late arbiter, the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting was cancelled, just as official engagements were rescheduled.
In a statement yesterday in Asaba by his Chief Press Secretary, Olisa Ifeajika, the governor described the late Oseji as a “quintessential and intellectual jurist whose pronouncements on the bench had advanced the cause of justice delivery in Nigeria.”