AN EXPOSITION TO THE 2014 REVISED GUIDELINES FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

The 1999 Constitution is the supreme law in Nigeria. The law has provided mechanism for the appointment of judicial officers that is not exhaustive. The constitution saddled National Judicial Council with the responsibility of recommending credible persons for appointment to the judicial offices. The recommendations are being submitted to the President and the Governor for the appointment of suitable candidates. If the appointment was for heads of court, the Senate and State House of Assembly must ratify the appointment. These steps cannot be taken without aspirants having obtained qualifications stipulated in the constitution. The National Judicial Council in order to have effective mechanism to enable it make informed recommendations issued revised guidelines to complement constitutional provisions for the appointment of the judicial officers. The thesis in this study is that the Extant Revised NJC Guidelines & Procedural Rules for the Appointment of Judicial Officers of All Superior Courts of Record in Nigeria is not without shortcomings. Part of the guidelines is contrary to the constitution (as amended). The guidelines have procedural lacunae in vital areas in the process for the appointment of the judicial officers in Nigeria. The scope of this paper is limited to the analysis of the revised guidelines, in doing so; the paper has briefly examined constitutional mechanism for the appointment of judicial officers in Nigeria