Supreme Court of Nigeria

Nigeria

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The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Court.

Overview

In 1963, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was proclaimed and Nnamdi Azikiwe became its first President. Appeals from the Federal Supreme Court to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were abolished at that point, and the Supreme Court became the highest court in Nigeria. In 1976, the Court of Appeal (originally known as the Federal Court of Appeal) was established as a national court to entertain appeals from the High Courts of each of Nigeria's 36 states, which are the trial courts of general jurisdiction. The Supreme Court in its current form was shaped by the Supreme Court Act of 1990 and by Chapter VII of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

Under the 1999 constitution, the Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdictions, has the sole authority and jurisdiction to entertain appeals from Court of Appeal, having appellate jurisdiction over all lower federal courts and highest state courts. Decisions rendered by the court are binding on all courts in Nigeria except the Supreme Court itself.

Structure and organization

The Supreme Court is composed of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and not more than twenty-one justices, appointed by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council and subject to confirmation by the Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court must be qualified to practice law in Nigeria, and must have been so qualified for a period not less than fifteen years. Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria have a mandatory retirement age of 65 years^[1].

Office	Name	Term
Chief Justice	Dahiru Musdapher	2003–incumbent	2007–incumbent
Associate Justice	Sylvester Umaru Onu	1993–incumbent
Associate Justice	A. I. Katsina-Alu	1998–incumbent
Associate Justice	F. F. Tabai	1999–incumbent
Associate Justice	Niki Tobi	2002–incumbent
Associate Justice	G. A. Oguntade	2004–incumbent
Associate Justice	Sunday A. Akintan	2004–incumbent
Associate Justice	A. M. Mukhtar	2005–incumbent
Associate Justice	Mahmud Mohammed	2005–incumbent
Associate Justice	Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen	2005–incumbent
Associate Justice	Ikechi Francis Ogbuagu	2005–incumbent
Associate Justice	Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad	2007–incumbent
Associate Justice	Pius Olayiwola Aderemi	2007–incumbent
Associate Justice	Christopher Michael Chukwuma-Eneh	2007–incumbent

Reference

1. ^ Retirement age and Supreme Court justices

External links

• Official Website of the Nigerian Supreme Court
• Supreme Court of Nigeria News
• Supreme Court of Nigeria
• Section of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria on the Judicature