Bill to increase FCT High Court judges scales second reading

Abill for an act to amend the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to provide for an increase in the number of judges has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill, sponsored by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and seven other legislators at plenary on Thursday, sought to increase the number of judges to a minimum of 100 from the current maximum of 70.

Leading the debate on its general principles, one of the co-sponsors, Jonathan Gbefwi (PDP-Nasarawa), said the bill had passed its first reading on July 23 to expedite the dispensation of justice in the FCT.

He said the High Court of the FCT stood as a crucial pillar in Nigeria’s judicial framework, as it serves residents and plays a pivotal role in other cases of national importance.

The lawmaker recalled that at the beginning of the 2022/2023 legal year, the FCT High Court carried forward 12,513 pending cases from the previous year.

He said that despite the substantial backlog, the court assigned an additional 5,952 new cases over the same period, bringing the workload to a level that greatly strained available judicial resources.

The lawmaker explained that the court was limited in the number of judges it could engage, stressing that the inadequacy significantly affected the rising volume and complexity of cases.

Mr Gbefwi said that by increasing the number of judges, the bill hoped to reduce delays in case resolution, ensuring more efficient handling of cases and enhancing public confidence in the judiciary.

“Given the rapid expansion of Abuja’s population, coupled with an increasing caseload spanning various legal domains, the need for additional judges has become pressing.

“This bill, therefore, is introduced to address these systemic challenges by increasing the statutory number of judges for the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.

According to him, the bill proposes an amendment to section 1 of the extant act to increase the number of judges in the court from the current maximum of 70 to a minimum of 100.

He said this would allow for greater judicial capacity to address the current and future needs of the court.

In his ruling, the speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, referred the bill to the Committees on FCT Judiciary and Constitution Review for further legislative action.