Justice O. M. Olagunju, a judge on the Oyo State High Court, received a letter from the National Judicial Council advising her to use caution before acting as a judicial officer, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
In a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olagunju allegedly used crude language to criticise the Council’s choice and its Policy Direction over the appointment of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal in Oyo State.
In a statement released on Friday in Abuja, the NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, stated that the organisation had also established four inquiry teams to look into allegations of judicial misconduct made against 27 high court judges.
At its 106th meeting, which was chaired by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, the NJC reviewed the preliminary complaints assessment committee’s report on 22 petitions filed against 27 judicial officers of the Federal and State High Courts.
“At the meeting, Council reviewed the Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee’s report on 22 petitions filed against 27 Federal and State High Court judges, and determined to form four committees to look into the claims in the petitions that were deemed credible.”
Nonetheless, eighteen petitions were dismissed due to their ineligibility, abandonment, or subjugation.
The Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice John Tsoho, Justice Z. Abubakar, Justice James Omotosho, Justice Sunday Onu, and Justice Okon Abang during his tenure there are among the others.
The remaining justices are Justice A. Aderibigbe of the Osun State High Court, Justice Aisha Aliyu of the Nasarawa State High Court, Justice Babagana Karumi of the Borno State High Court, and Justice Maimuna Abubakar of the Niger State High Court.