NBA Blows Hot As Senate Pushes Bill To Pack Supreme Court With 30 Justices

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has opposed a Senate proposal to raise the number of Supreme Court justices from 21 to 30, arguing that the move does little to resolve the underlying problems affecting the country’s highest court.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West), aims to amend current laws to expand the Supreme Court bench. Izunaso justifies the proposal by citing a pressing need to clear the mounting backlog of appeals and enhance the court’s efficiency.

Backing the bill, Izunaso noted that with 30 justices, the court could form at least five panels at once, thereby accelerating the pace of hearings and judgments. “Currently, some litigants are being assigned hearing dates as far off as 2027 or 2028,” he warned. Despite the 2023 appointments that filled the court’s constitutionally mandated 21-seat capacity, he insists the justices remain overwhelmed by daily case volumes.

However, NBA President Afam Osigwe (SAN) has rejected the rationale behind the bill, calling it a superficial solution to a deeply rooted problem. Speaking with Sunday Punch, Osigwe argued that the issue is not the number of justices, but rather the structure of Nigeria’s judicial system and the flood of non-essential appeals reaching the apex court.

“When the number of justices stood at around 15 or 16, there was agitation to reach the full 21. That was achieved, yet the burden remains unchanged,” he explained. Osigwe emphasized that unless meaningful constitutional reforms are undertaken, simply increasing the number of justices will not enhance the court’s performance.

He advocated that only cases involving constitutional interpretation or conflicting appellate decisions should be allowed to reach the Supreme Court. “It’s one of the most overburdened courts in the world. Expecting it to handle thousands of appeals while delivering consistent, high-quality judgments is unrealistic,” he stressed.

Beyond legislative tweaks, Osigwe called for modernising the court system, particularly through improved case management technologies, to make operations more efficient. “Even if we increase the number of justices to 30 or even 50, the situation won’t improve without smarter systems to manage and assign cases,” he concluded.