Justice Amina Bows Out From Supreme Court, Counts On Senator Akpabio, NASS To Amend 1999 Constitution

Justice Amina Adamu Augie has retired from the Supreme Court bench and has urged the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio to ensure that the 10th Senate amends the 1999 Constitution to enhance the justice system in Nigeria.

At the apex court in Abuja, the justice shared her views on the need to amend the constitution during a valedictory session held in her honour on Thursday after having attained the retirement age of 70 this September.

At the gathering which was graced by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, ten of her brother justices, politicians and journalists, Augie disclosed that the magnitude of workload at the apex court is further compounded with appeals that do not align with its role as a policy-making court.

Citing an example, Aigue said there was a time an appeal was brought before the court by a state and it involved the case of twelve goats that were set ablaze.

The jurist opined that unless a constitutional amendment is carried out by lawmakers, the apex court will keep attending to “unusual” cases aside the overwhelming caseload before the Supreme Court.

On this, Augie who has served the nation for 45 years as a law lecturer and judge, called on Akpabio, who was one of her students, to do the needful by pushing for a Constitution amendment.

Her words, “This marks the final instance where my voice will be heard in any Court, and I wish to use this opportunity to directly address the 10th National Assembly, through the Distinguished Senate President. Sen. Godswill Akpabio, who was once my student at the Law School.

“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.”

She implored the National Assembly to undertake the necessary constitutional amendments so that justices can be freed from the constraints that impede their ability to fulfil their mandate of upholding the rule of law, justice, and democracy.

On his part, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Olukayode Ariwoola said Augie’s life is not just a testimony to the fulfilment of her lofty childhood dream but a confirmation of an unprecedented self-actualization, which is the hallmark of human existence.

The CJN described her as an accomplished judicial colossus who has offered the best of her intellect to the advancement of the legal profession through her several years of adjudications from the Magistrate up to the Supreme Court.

Fagbemi said the retired jurist is truly a dedicated Nigerian who has practically lived and worked in every geopolitical zone of Nigeria.

On the part of the federal government, Fagbemi promised it would continue to support the justice sector while leveraging technology for an effective justice system.

THE WHISTLER reports that Augie is the sixth woman to attain the position of a Supreme Court Justice in over 50 years of the existence of the apex court.