By Lillian Okenwa
The question of how overworked justices of Nigeria’s Supreme Court are and how the most ridiculous of cases come to the apex court again took the spotlight with Hon. Justice Amina Augie recounting the case of 12 burnt goats that came on appeal.
Justice Augie whose formal valedictory ceremony held at the Supreme Court on Thursday, called for an urgent amendment of the 1999 Constitution to restrict the circumstances under which appeals can reach the Supreme Court.
Speaking about their workload and the case of the burnt goats, Her Lordship said: “I even turned to an online thesaurus for words to capture the essence of this workload; ‘burdensome, difficult, grievous, hash, intolerable, laborious, onerous, oppressive, hard. Severe, tedious, vexatious, wearisome…’
“Allow me to share a perplexing example. One remarkable day, we found ourselves entertaining an appeal in an unusual criminal case.
“Surprisingly, it was not the accused or convict that had filed the appeal; it was the State. The case involved an incident of arson where 12 goats were set ablaze.
“As we grappled with the load of pending judgments and the stack of files awaiting review for our upcoming conference — a sacred ritual in this Court — l could not help but voice my astonishment.
“I leaned over to my brother Justice and whispered, ‘with all that is on our plate, why would such a case come before us? Our primary role here is to be a policy-making Court’.
“Something must change. This Court is the apex court, and its final decisions shape society’s social order. Justices should be able to focus on what truly matters.
“They could issue directives for formulating specific policies or amend existing ones to better serve their intended purposes.
“But how can they do that when they are drowning in an overwhelming caseload?”
Her Lordship however expressed confidence that Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who was her former student at the Nigerian Law School, would initiate the constitutional amendment process to ameliorate the onerous burden on the court.
“I had the privilege of teaching him evidence. And I trust that he learned it well. Hence, it should be evident to him that swift action is needed from the 10th National Assembly to accomplish what others could not — amending the Constitution to enhance the functioning of our courts in Nigeria.
“It is said that a teacher’s reward is in Heaven. I cannot wait to reach Heaven to receive my reward for teaching him because it is my sincere wish that the justices coming behind me do not go through what those before them went through.
“Thus, I implore the National Assembly to undertake the necessary constitutional amendments. By doing so, this Court and its Justices can be freed from the constraints that impede their ability to fulfill their mandate of upholding the rule of law, justice, and democracy,” she said.
Augie whose term at the court expired on attaining the statutory retirement age of 70 years on 3rd September, is the sixth woman to be elevated to the Supreme Court bench in over 60 years of the court’s existence.
Eulogising the retired justice, Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola said she “diligently and meticulously offered unquantifiable services to her fatherland and the generality of humanity in different capacities for several decades.”
“We are all here to felicitate with an accomplished judicial colossus that has offered the best of her intellect to the advancement of the legal profession through her several years of inimitable adjudications and unprecedented judicial prowess,” Ariwoola said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, announced that the Federal Government will soon be elevating more judicial officers to the Supreme Court which currently has only 11 justices against the constitutional requirement of 21.
In his address at the event, the AGF said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is prioritising the welfare and working condition of judicial officers in the country.
Adding that the government would support critical reforms that would enhance greater access to justice, facilitate speedy trials and build confidence in the country’s judicial and legal systems, he described Justice Augie as an embodiment of patriotism, acknowledging that she made several far-reaching legal and judicial pronouncements that have continued to generate reviews from legal commentators.
Likewise, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, who called on the federal government to speedily improve the remuneration of judicial officers in the country, expressed concern that Nigeria’s Supreme Court is the most over-worked in world.
Meanwhile, though Justice Augie clocked 70 years on September 3 but the valedictory ceremony in her honour was delayed till Thursday to enable the court to resume after its annual vacation.
Justice Augie maintained that swift action was needed from the National Assembly to limit the type of appeals that would be allowed at the apex court.
She decried that justices of the apex court sometimes “sit all day and have to deal with appeals that do not align with the Court’s role as a policy-making court.”
On his part, Prof Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN, said: “Hon. Justice Amina Augie, JSC, CON, deserves all the accolades. She is truly a jurist per excellence. Her judgements are always detailed, comprehensive and consistent with jurisprudence.
“The Bar will miss her smiles and considerate attitude as well as her erudition and Incisive dissection of complex legal issues. We wish our former Evidence Teacher at the Law School and erudite judex a blissful retirement and greater service to humanity.”
