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Nigerians Most Litigious People On Earth, CJN Ariwoola Laments

Published

3 years ago

November 28, 2022

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola lamented on Monday in Abuja that Nigerians, especially the political class are the most litigious people on earth putting unprecedented pressure on the judiciary.

Justice Ariwoola canvassed the need for the Nigerian public to be told to do less litigation and embrace more of alternative dispute resolution to free the courts of unnecessary over-stretching of human and material resources.

Speaking against the incessant rush to court after every little disagreement, the CJN explained that Nigeria has various alternative dispute resolution mechanisms across the country that can conveniently be leveraged, with a view to freeing the courts of the incessant case overload.

“In every little disagreement, we rush to court; and in every lost case, we rush to appeal even up to the Supreme Court, no matter how little the issue might be. That has obviously accounted for the several appeals pending in Supreme Court.

“Though we receive scathing criticisms from members of the public over our over-blotted docket, we are neither in any position to regulate case inflow to the court nor have the supernatural powers to attend to all in one fell swoop.”

Justice Ariwoola spoke at the Supreme Court at a special court session to mark the 2022/2023 legal year of the Apex Court and the inauguration of the 62 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN.

To buttress his claim, Justice Ariwoola explained that during the 2021/2022 legal year alone, the Supreme Court entertained a total number of 1,764 cases, comprising of motions and appeals.

Out of the figure, he said justices of the court heard 816 civil, 370 criminal and 16 political matters, making a total of 1,202 motions.

Similarly, he said, the court considered a total number of 562 appeals, comprising 341 civil, 186 criminal, and 35 political. A total number of 154 judgments were delivered in the year.

“[Of] our pending (backlog) civil appeals are 4,741 while the number of pending (backlog) criminal appeals is 1,392.

“On the other hand, we have 751 moribund appeals for disposal. That brings the total number of pending (backlog) appeals in this Honourable Court to 6,884.

“Out of the 4,741 appeals in the court’s docket, 1,495 have briefs filed and exchanged and are ready for hearing; whereas, the remaining 3,246 appeals are having about 10,000 motions, with some contentious and others innocuous in nature.

“As for the pending 1,392 criminal appeals, 461 already had briefs filed and exchanged and are ready for hearing. The remaining 931 appeals have about 2,000 different motions for hearing to determine their eligibility for hearing.

“However, the identified 751 moribund appeals are to be disposed of for non-compliance with the Supreme Court Rules, i.e. Order 8 Rule 8,” he said.

He further stated: “Available facts on judicial activities in various jurisdictions across the globe still emphatically confirmed that the Supreme Court of Nigeria remains the busiest and most hardworking Supreme Court in the world.

“It is on record that we work from Monday to Friday every week. We conduct sittings on daily basis. It is only on Wednesdays we do chamber sitting to consider non-contentious matters. On Fridays, we deliver judgments and rulings.”

He noted that there are debates in the public space as to whether the Nigerian judiciary is independent or not.

“In the course of these various engagements, discussants always assess the situation from different unrelated perspectives; and that has largely accounted for the often conflicting solutions proffered at the end of each dialogue session.

“The Nigerian Judiciary, to a very large extent, is independent in conducting its affairs and taking decisions on matters before it without any extraneous influence,” he stated.

According to him: “At the Supreme Court, without mincing words, we are completely independent in the way and manner we conduct our affairs, especially in our judgments.

“We don’t pander to the whims and caprices of anybody. If there is anybody to be feared, I must say with full confidence, that it is only the Almighty God. We will never be subservient to anyone, no matter his position or influence in the society.

“Nevertheless, I will make it clear to whoever that cares to listen that when the Nigerian Judiciary is assessed from the financial aspect, we are yet to be free or truly independent.

“The annual budget of the Judiciary is still a far cry from what it ought to be. The figure is either stagnated for a long period of time or it goes on a progressive decline when placed side-by-side with the current realities in the market.

“Prices of goods and services are not getting less or friendly to buyers; while at the same time, our purchasing power is abysmally low and weak enough to transmit on the same wavelength with the market forces.

“The only thing I can do at this juncture is to plead with the other arms of government and allied agencies to clear all the impediments so we can enjoy our independence holistically.”

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.

News

Police Arrest Nollywood Production Manager For Assaulting Crew Member

Published

22 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Police have arrested a Nollywood production manager, Anierobi Courage, for allegedly assaulting a crew member.

Anierobi Courage, better known as Nwa South, reportedly assaulted the head of makeup, Mary Chizzy Eze, on October 28, 2025, while on the set of the film “Lagos to Opulence.”

A trending video of the physical altercation showed the production manager pressing Mary’s throat after slapping her, an act that has sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Reacting to the public condemnation, the Nigeria Film Crew Community (NFCC), in a statement released on Thursday, described Courage’s actions as “animalistic behaviour.”

Announcing his arrest, NFCC called on Nollywood producers and other stakeholders to blacklist Courage across all productions.

“The production manager violently hit and strangled Mary Chizzy Eze for speaking up against unequal treatment among the crew. While she has received medical care, he has been arrested.

“This level of disregard for human dignity is unacceptable. We stand firmly against all forms of abuse, assault, and crew maltreatment,” the NFCC said.

News

‘EFCC Collected N10m Before They Released Me’ – Oladips Alleges [VIDEO]

Published

23 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian singer, Oladips has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of collecting N10 million from him.

The rapper made this known nearly a year after he was arrested by EFCC during a midnight raid in his estate.

Oladips was arrested with some of his neighbors for alleged fraud in November 2024.

He was released after spending five days in detention.

Speaking about his experience with the EFCC, Oladips in his latest interview on Trending podcast, stated that nothing was found on him after the EFCC investigations.

While revealing that the EFCC collected N10 million from him before his release, he lamented that “Nigeria just happened to me”.

“It’s just one smelling place like that. They just packed us there like sardines and they gave us nonsense food. Funny enough it was Zlatan that was sending me food. Zlatan is not even a friend, that’s my blood.

“He was sending someone to buy good food for me because the food there is bad. They just packed us there like sardines. I’m not even supposed to be there first of all. Like, why did I spend four to five days there when you people (EFCC) didn’t find anything on me, not even a single thing. And they still collect N10 million from me before they released me.”

When asked “Is it a thing you can take up against the EFCC later, or you will just allow the sleeping dog lie?”, the singer responded “Who is my father?”

“Who is my father now? At the end of the day, who is my father? It’s just me and my truth. It’s not something I will want to. I don’t just know how the system works. I for dey their page now if to say I dey do Yahoo. They didn’t find anything on me. If they are watching this, they know that I’m saying the truth.

“They collected money from me before they released me. They didn’t find anything on me. So, what was the money for? What was all that stress and suffering for? It’s just Nigeria. Nigeria just happened to me,” he said.

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