CJN Kekere-Ekun Criticizes Delayed Verdicts, Warns Of Public Loss Of Confidence In Judiciary
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has expressed dissatisfaction with the persistent delays in delivering verdicts by some judges, warning that such actions could erode public trust in the judiciary.
Speaking at the third annual National Judicial Council (NJC) conference on judges’ performance evaluation in Abuja on Tuesday, Kekere-Ekun highlighted that some judges had failed to deliver any judgments for an entire quarter. “At the last meeting of the committee, there was a reduction in case disposal as some judicial officers failed to deliver a single judgment in one quarter. This is simply unacceptable,” she stated.
The CJN emphasized the need for judicial reform to address the growing backlog of cases, stating that the judiciary cannot expect different results while maintaining the status quo. “My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot wish away the growing backlog of cases or expect a different result when we continue to do things the same way,” she said.
Kekere-Ekun further expressed concern over the increasing number of pending cases and the low disposition rate among judges. “We must be deeply concerned by the increase in the number of pending cases and low disposition rates,” she noted.
She revealed that by the first quarter of 2024, a total of 243,253 cases were still pending in superior courts of record, excluding the Supreme Court, consisting of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases. “It is imperative for all of us to take a serious note of this alarming situation, and for this purpose, we must re-focus our attention towards enhancing our judicial performance,” the CJN concluded.
