The President of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Justice Babatunde Adejumo, has said lazy and corrupt judges have no business at the court as judicial officers with such tendencies will be exposed to the public.
Adejumo, who said incorrigibility and hard work were necessary conditions for any judge to scale the hurdles of screening, charged lawyers eyeing the position to be apolitical, shun corruption and live a modest lifestyle.
These qualities, he said, would enable them to judicial scrutiny.
The NIC President spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday while delivering a lecture entitled, “How to Become a Judge of NIC,” to mark the 2019 Attorney General’s Colloquium.
He lauded the NIC Act 2006 for making the National Judicial Council the recommending authority for judges of the industrial court.
Adejumo said, “It is important to hint that anyone who may aspire to become a judge of the court must understand the law, most particularly in the area of labour and industrial relations; must be of impeccable character who must abhor corruption and other related vices; and must be hard-working and dedicated with no moral or professional blemish.
“The foregoing is in line with Rule 4 of the 2014 Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules for the appointment of judicial officers of all superior courts of record in Nigeria.”
According to him, most of the trade disputes being adjudicated upon by the court are government-labour industrial feud.
This, he noted, predisposed judges to intensive lobbying, stressing that this must be resisted to protect justice and integrity of the bench.
Adejumo revealed that the industrial court had failed to live up to the people’s expectations since its establishment via the Trade Disputes Decree No 7 of 1976 by the military regime due to dual appointment of the members of bench of the court.
“By virtue of sections 19 and 25 of the Trade Union Act, the President of Nigeria appoints its president on the recommendation of the Federal Judicial Service Commission while the other members are appointed by the President through the recommendation of the Minister of Labour.
“These procedures created a lot of problems to be the extent that no quorum could be formed without the NIC president on seat.
“But with NIC Act 2006, the process was normalised and NJC is now the recommending authority just like the procedure for the appointment of judges of other superior courts,” he said.
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Adejumo, who said incorrigibility and hard work were necessary conditions for any judge to scale the hurdles of screening, charged lawyers eyeing the position to be apolitical, shun corruption and live a modest lifestyle.
These qualities, he said, would enable them to judicial scrutiny.
The NIC President spoke in Ado Ekiti on Saturday while delivering a lecture entitled, “How to Become a Judge of NIC,” to mark the 2019 Attorney General’s Colloquium.
He lauded the NIC Act 2006 for making the National Judicial Council the recommending authority for judges of the industrial court.
Adejumo said, “It is important to hint that anyone who may aspire to become a judge of the court must understand the law, most particularly in the area of labour and industrial relations; must be of impeccable character who must abhor corruption and other related vices; and must be hard-working and dedicated with no moral or professional blemish.
“The foregoing is in line with Rule 4 of the 2014 Revised NJC Guidelines and Procedural Rules for the appointment of judicial officers of all superior courts of record in Nigeria.”
According to him, most of the trade disputes being adjudicated upon by the court are government-labour industrial feud.
This, he noted, predisposed judges to intensive lobbying, stressing that this must be resisted to protect justice and integrity of the bench.
Adejumo revealed that the industrial court had failed to live up to the people’s expectations since its establishment via the Trade Disputes Decree No 7 of 1976 by the military regime due to dual appointment of the members of bench of the court.
“By virtue of sections 19 and 25 of the Trade Union Act, the President of Nigeria appoints its president on the recommendation of the Federal Judicial Service Commission while the other members are appointed by the President through the recommendation of the Minister of Labour.
“These procedures created a lot of problems to be the extent that no quorum could be formed without the NIC president on seat.
“But with NIC Act 2006, the process was normalised and NJC is now the recommending authority just like the procedure for the appointment of judges of other superior courts,” he said.
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