J
Justina Otio
Guest
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun has warned judges that Nigerians would lose confidence in the judiciary if they continue to delay the execution of cases before them.
The CJN gave the warning in Abuja on Tuesday at the third annual National Judicial Council (NJC) conference on judges’ performance evaluation.
She expressed concern over the increase in the number of pending cases in courts and the low rate of disposition of suits among judges.
Kekere-Ekun said: “We must be deeply concerned by the increase in the number of pending cases and low disposition rates.
“As of the first quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our superior courts of record, exclusive of the supreme court.
“This total is comprised of 199,747 civil cases and 43,506 criminal cases.
“At the last meeting of the committee, there was a reduction in case disposal as some judicial officers failed to deliver a single judgment in one quarter. This is simply unacceptable.
“It is imperative for all of us to take a serious note of this alarming situation, and for this purpose, we must re-focus our attention towards enhancing our judicial performance.”
The CJN encouraged judicial officers to explore the use of information technology and case management innovations to enhance judicial performance.
She also advocated for the use of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation and arbitration, which promote faster case resolution to alleviate the workload on judges.
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