Lopsidedness: Bauchi Assembly Suspends Appointment Of Judges
BY ADEYEMI AKANJI – The Bauchi State House of Assembly on Tuesday directed the State Judiciary to suspend the appointment exercise of Area and Upper Area Court judges until pending the completion of findings into allegation of lopsidedness in the exercise.
The decision of the House followed allegations of lopsidedness in the appointment of the court judges believed to have favoured a section of the state above others.
The Assembly noted that the development negates fairness, equity and justice which if left unchecked, may lead to acrimony.
Speaking Under matters of urgent public importance at plenary, the member representing Dambam/Dagauda/Jalam state Constituency, Hon. Baballe Abubakar Dambam drew the attention of the House to the alleged lopsided appointment of judges of Upper Area Courts by the State ministry of Justice.
Abubakar explained that the ministry is set to make appointment of judges of Upper and Area courts in which 18 judges are of the Upper Courts whose names are expected to be released any moment from now while same exercise for lower courts will be carried out subsequently.
The lawmaker said his constituents complained to him about irregularities and lopsidedness in the appointments and requested him to urge the House to correct the anomalies for equity and fairness.
Abubakar, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, said that in some Local Governments Areas, there are staff of the ministry that are on grade level 15 and 16 but were ignored while those on grade level 13 and 14 were appointed.
He further said; “Also, as in the case of federal character to ensure equity among various parts, State character of Bauchi is not followed in the appointments.
“There should be equity, among the 20 LGAs of the State, but, in this exercise, out of the 18 judges appointed, 8 are from Bauchi Local Government alone. If zones are considered, Bauchi South got 11, Bauchi North got 5 and only 2 from Central Zone.
“If Emirates are considered, then 13 of the judges are from Bauchi Emirate and none from Jama’are and Misau Emirates. This should not be allowed, all appointments should reflect state character,” he said.
Abubakar therefore urged the House to direct the Judiciary not to release the appointments and should also direct the House Committees on Judiciary and Public Service to meet with the ministry to ensure justice is done.
He also urged the House to direct that every appointment should be opened to all who are qualified, adding that the judiciary being the last hope of the common man should be seen to be reflecting justice.
In his words; “If this injustice is coming from the judiciary, how do you expect justice to be given to those who justice is due? If such injustice is done in the appointment of judges for the Upper Area courts, that of the Area courts would be worse”.
In his remarks, Speaker Abubakar Y Suleiman, said the issue is very important and referred the matter to the House Committee on Judiciary to report back to the House within two days.
