Yahaya Bello's Wife Snubbed as NJC Approves New Judges

Amina and Yahaya Bello

The wife of Yahaya Bello is not included in the list of judges nominated by NJC to the High Court.

Amina Bello, the wife of the controversial former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has been removed from the list of nominees to be appointed as judges of the Kogi State High Court by the Nigerian Judicial Council, or NJC.

Seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) filed a lawsuit against the Kogi State government and the National Judicial Council (NJC) in January, challenging the inclusion of Amina, the wife of Governor Yahaya Bello, on the list of candidates for appointment to the state's High Court.

The Plaintiffs in the Originating Summons with Suit No.: FCT/ABJ/CS/05/2024 are J.S. Okutepa and Chief Yunus Ustaz Usman.

The others are Johnson Usman, Shaibu Aruwa, Reuben Atabo, Patrick Okolo, and Abdullahi Haruna.

They contended that the procedures of selection were against the law and the fairness, equality, and merit values found in the constitution.

The appointment of new judges to the state judiciary was to be suspended until specific conditions were met, according to a request made in October 2023 by roughly 17 SANs from Kogi State.

The lawyers made the request in a letter dated October 20, 2023, sent to Justice Josiah Majebi, the Chief Judge and Chairman of the Kogi State Judicial Service Commission.

The Kogi SANs, citing Rules 1–5 of the National Judicial Council Revised Guidelines, stated in their title, “RE: Provisional Short-list Of Candidates Of Ten Judicial Officers Of The High Court Of Justice Shariah Court Of Appeal And Customary Court Of Appeal,” that the appointment of judges to superior courts of record is regulated and requires the provision of basic amenities like courtrooms/judges' chambers, official cars, residential accommodation, as well as an equipped library in judges' chambers.

The letter, which was signed by Yunus Ustaz Usman and sixteen other SANs, criticized the list of applicants for judgeship for being unbalanced and detrimental to other regions of the state due to its lack of regional representation.

The NJC has that 22 judges be appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Soji Oye, the council's director of information, revealed in a statement on Friday, May 17, that 86 judicial officers had been recommended to be judges in federal and state courts.

The proposed judicial officers, according to Oye, will take the oath of office following confirmation from President Bola Tinubu and the governors of their respective states.