President Bola Tinubu has asked the Nigerian Senate to approve a significant expansion of the nation’s appellate and trial courts, proposing the appointment of 200 additional judges for the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court.
The request, aimed at strengthening judicial capacity and tackling the growing backlog of cases linked to emerging security and economic challenges, was contained in two separate bills transmitted to the upper legislative chamber.
The bills were read at plenary on Tuesday by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, as lawmakers resumed sittings after the Christmas and New Year recess.
Under the proposals, President Tinubu is seeking to amend the Court of Appeal Act, 2004, to increase the number of justices from the current 70 to 110. He also forwarded a bill to amend the Federal High Court Act, 2004, proposing an increase in the number of judges from 70 to 90.
According to the president, the expansion has become necessary due to the rising workload of the courts and the emergence of specialised and complex areas of litigation, particularly terrorism-related cases, taxation matters, and other evolving aspects of federal jurisdiction.
Beyond increasing manpower at the Court of Appeal, the proposed amendment also seeks to modernise court operations. The bill provides for electronic and visual transmission of proceedings and updates several operational terminologies in the existing law to align with contemporary judicial practices.
For the Federal High Court, Tinubu noted that the current number of judges is no longer sufficient to handle the volume and complexity of cases before the court. He recalled that the court was originally established with 50 judges, a number that was increased to 70 in 2009, but said recent developments in governance, security, and economic regulation have placed additional demands on the institution.
The president stressed that increasing the number of judges to 90 would improve efficiency, reduce delays in the administration of justice, and ensure the court is better equipped with judges possessing the requisite expertise in emerging areas of law.
In a related development, Tinubu also forwarded the name of Oyewole Joseph to the Senate for confirmation as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The Senate is expected to subject both the bills and the judicial nomination to legislative scrutiny in line with its constitutional mandate.