PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve a set of judicial reform bills designed to expand the number of judges in key courts across the country, citing the need to strengthen the justice system and tackle the growing backlog of cases.
At today’s plenary session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read a letter from the President requesting amendments to the Court of Appeal Act to increase the number of justices from 70 to 110.
According to Tinubu, the proposed increase is necessary to improve efficiency and enhance the court’s capacity to handle rising caseloads.
The President also forwarded a bill seeking changes to the Federal High Court Act, proposing an increase in the number of judges from the current 70 to 90, an upward review from the original provision of 50 judges.
Tinubu urged the Senate to give the proposed legislation accelerated consideration.
The bills were subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative processing.
In addition, the President requested Senate confirmation for the appointment of Justice Oyewole Joseph Kayode as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The Senate also received another Court of Appeal Amendment Bill proposing the establishment of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre to enable the resolution of suitable cases outside the conventional court system.
This bill was equally referred to the Committee on Rules and Business.
Separately, President Tinubu submitted a request for amendments to 24 health sector bills, aimed at addressing concerns over excessively large board memberships within the sector.