National judicial council rejects Nyako’s candidate - TopicsExpress

National judicial council rejects Nyako’s candidate Published on Friday, 19 July 2013 06:00 The National Judicial Council (NJC) under the Chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar has on Wednesday rejected the nominee for the position of Adamawa State Chief Judge, Justice Nathan Musa, citing the issue of seniority. Justice Musa who is currently the Acting Chief Judge of the state is not the most senior judge in the Adamawa State judiciary. A source close to council told Daily Trust that the most senior Judge in the state, Justice Ishaya Banu who had recently been suffering from kidney ailment and thus considered unfit for the rigorous demand of the office of CJ by both the state government and the State Judicial Commission (JSC) wrote a letter to the highest judicial body in the country indicating his recovery from the sickness. “In fact the letter written by Banu formed part of the agenda of the NJC’s Wednesday meeting, apparently informing the council that he is now fit and capable of holding the office of CJ”, the source stated. The source further revealed that Banu had at a time replied a query issued him by the council for failure to return cases in which he cited his failing health as the factor responsible. But Daily Trust gathered that Banu who has just returned from follow-up medical check-up abroad has had serious kidney ailment and at a time had to undergo dialysis three times a week before he was finally flown to India where he underwent a transplant. Confirming the development, the Attorney General of Adamawa State, Barrister Ibrahim Tahir said the council had asked the state to go back to the drawing board and forward the name of the most senior judge in the state. He explained that the JSC in the state recommended the Acting CJ, Musa in order to avert a crisis experienced during the tenure of Justice B.P Lawi who took over from Justice Bamare Bansi (rtd) as the Acting CJ being the most senior. According to him, seniority as against the reality on ground was considered in the appointment of late Lawi who was an ailing judge but the judiciary in Adamawa and Lawi himself shrouded his sickness in secrecy until the time he suddenly failed to perform his functions as CJ, had his leg amputated within two weeks and died few days after the surgery. It would be recalled that Governor Murtala Nyako has recently come under criticisms for failing to appoint a chief judge for his state for political reasons since the retirement of Justice Bamari Bansi some two years ago.