The NJC had in April sent 33 names to the President to be confirmed as judges in the country.
The group also stated that some of the names sent to Buhari were included in the list because they were related to present judges or judicial officials.
Open Bar Initiative has written a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, exposing how the National Judicial Council compromised its laws to nominate unqualified persons as judges in the country.
The NJC had in April sent 33 names to the President to be confirmed as judges in the country.
The group also stated that some of the names sent to Buhari were included in the list because they were related to present judges or judicial officials.
It noted that 22 of the 33 candidates presented to the President for appointment as judges failed to comply with the existing standards and procedures for nomination and selection as specified by the NJC.
It added that it was compelled to write the President to prevent turning the judicial system into an instrument for advancing narrow personal interests.
Silas Joseph Onu, and Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, co-conveners of the group, said, “With considerable reluctance, we feel compelled as citizens and duty bound as legal practitioners of this great nation, to oppose the names recommended to your good office for appointment as judges into the FCT High Court and our reasons are detailed below.
“In summary, the selection process violated the National Judicial Council’s laid down rules and procedures; violated High Court of the FCT (Number of Judges) Act, 2003 and is fraught with judicial insider dealing which risks turning the judiciary into an instrument for advancing narrow personal interests and patronage.”
The group, highlighting why their qualifications remain questionable, said it not only violates applicable NJC rules for the selection and appointment of superior court judges but also reveals insider dealings in the NJC.
The group stated that while Section 255 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As amended), pegged qualification for becoming a judge in the High Court of the FCT to be a minimum of 10 years qualification as a legal practitioner, many of those recommended do not meet the requirement.
Also citing insider dealings as to why majority of the names recommended were unqualified, the group said that while one is the daughter of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, another is the daughter of the immediate past President of the Court of Appeal.
The petition said, “One is the daughter of a Justice of the Supreme Court and daughter-in-law of a Justice of the Court of Appeal; one is the sister of the Presiding Justice of Appeal, Akure Division; and one is the sister of a member of the NJC (D.D. Dodo SAN) and also wife of the President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Kanyip.”
The group posited while judicial service in Nigeria has become an inheritance transmitted from parents to children, it is not supported by the constitution or any other instrument under Nigerian laws.
It added that this is an abuse of the high constitutional responsibility invested in those who must nominate judges.
The group urge the president to reject the list and order a transparent selection process.
“We are not against the children of judges applying, but we insist that even they, must compete on a level playing field with all others and they cannot be exempt from existing rules which govern the selection and appointment of judges. The NJC loses its claim to manage the judiciary if it cannot apply its own rules fairly.
“Therefore, we pray and plead with you to reject this recommendation and order a transparently objective selection exercise devoid of conflict of interest and undue influence or insider dealing of any kind,” Open Bar Initiative said.