Fifteen Judges Under Investigation- NJC

The National Judicial Council has established a Committee to investigate allegations of misconduct leveled against 15 judicial officers of the federal and state courts.

Soji Oye, Esq, NJC’s Director, Information, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.

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The decision to probe affected judges was approved by Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, during its 99th meeting of 30 November and 01 December 2022.

According to the statement, 66 petitions were received but only 15 scaled through for further probe.

The council failed to disclose the names of the judges under probe.

“The decision is sequel to the submission of recommendations of three Preliminary Complaint Assessment Committees which considered 66 petitions forwarded to them by the Council from all over the Federation.

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“The Council however dismissed the petitions against 51 Judicial Officers of the Federal and State High Courts for either lack of merit, being subjudice, or being matters for appeal or that the concerned Judge have retired from Service,” the statement read.

At the meeting, the Council received the reviewed Judicial Information Technology Policy which sets out the general requirements and responsibilities for the Nigerian Judiciary systems and information.

The NJC noted the retirement of 16 Judges and the death of a Judge from the Federal and State High Courts.

The statement further reads, “ The policy provides for the guidance of Courts and Judicial Bodies in protecting Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) of judiciary function and process.

“It also stipulates guidance for acceptable use of system, services and technologies as well as provisions for secure storage of judicial data and recovery processes in the event of emergencies or distress. It further provides guidelines and incident management policies including Data Centre deployment and use policies.

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“The Scope is intended for all Courts and Judicial Bodies in Nigeria including staff of the Nigerian judiciary, employed or contracted to any Judicial Body handling information that is generated, received, stored, transmitted, or printed. It encompasses all personal or Judiciary identifiable data held in their Courts and Judicial Bodies’ systems and processes including supporting mechanisms and technologies for managing such data at rest or in transit.

“All staff are expected to comply with the policy and associated standard protocols and procedures that have been put in place to support the document.

“The policy is applicable to all Courts unit, departments of all Judicial Bodies in the Nigerian Judiciary.”

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