A Federal High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has issued an order to Abuja-based lawyer Azubuike Oko, instructing him to serve the defendants with ex-parte notice within two days of the order.
Oko is contesting the exclusion of Ebonyi State from the recent appointment of 12 judges for the FCT.
He filed a suit against Baba-Yusuf, the National Judicial Council (NJC), and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) as the first to third defendants. Also joined in the suit, filed on February 16 by Nkemakolam Okoro, are the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), President of Nigeria, and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) as the fourth to sixth defendants, respectively.
The plaintiff seeks an order to maintain the status quo ante bellum pending the hearing and determination of his motion on notice.
In an affidavit, Christiana Dominic, Litigation Assistant in Okoro’s law firm, describes Oko as a taxpayer, voter, and lawyer with over 19 years of legal experience, hailing from Ebonyi State.
Dominic notes that it is the CJ (Baba-Yusuf) who selects qualified lawyers from various states and forwards their names to the FJSC for recommendation to the NJC for appointment by the President as judges of the FCT High Court.
She points out that while states like Oyo and Kogi, which already have two serving judges in the FCT High Court, received additional slots, Ebonyi State, with no serving judge, was excluded. The lawyer prayed the court to grant their motion in the interest of justice.
Delivering the ruling on Friday in Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/205/2024, Justice Inyang Ekwo directed Oko to serve the defendants within two days and ordered an accelerated hearing, adjourning the matter until March 4.
Credit: The Nigerian Lawyer