A lawsuit contesting the selection of twelve judges for the Federal Capital Territory’s (FCT) High Court was dismissed by the Federal High Court of Abuja.
In a ruling on Friday, Justice Inyang Ekwo determined that Azubuike Oko, the plaintiff, who identified himself as an attorney from Ebonyi state, did not have the necessary locus standi to bring the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit titled FHC/ABJ/CS/205/2024, Oko had expressed his displeasure over the absence of attorneys from his state on the list of recently appointed justices to the FCT’s High Court.
He claimed that when it came to the nomination of judges to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, the Chief Judge of the court, the NJC, and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) had consistently left Ebonyi out and marginalized.
Oko claimed that it was the Chief Judge of the High Court of the FCT who computed the names of qualified lawyers from selected states, which he sent to the FJSC for recommendation to NJC for appointment by the President of Nigeria as judges of the court.
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He said the states from which the new appointment was made are Bauchi, Bayelsa, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, and Zamfara.
Justice Ekwo, in the judgment on Friday upheld the objection raised by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Judge of the High Court of the FCT, represented by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN).
The judge said: “The plaintiff is not saying that he has personal injury caused by the 1st, 2nd ard 4th defendants (CJN, NJC and the Chief Judge of the FCT or any other defendant in this case for which he seeks a remedy.”
Justice Ekwo also faulted the plaintiff’s attempt to rely on his being from Ebonyi State to establish his locus standi to institute the suit.
He added: “The fact that the plaintiff is from Ebonyi State does not still avail him the locus to initiate this case because, in his view, Ebonyi State of Nigeria has been routinely excluded and marginalised with respect to the appointment of judges of the High Court of FCT by the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants.