Judges’ Appointment: 34 Nominees Fail Integrity Test

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A total of 34 lawyers nominated for appointment as Judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria (FHC) were discovered to lack the necessary integrity required to sit on the bench of the Nigerian judiciary.

That was discovered in a report by Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), which carried out an Integrity Test on 62 lawyers recently shortlisted for appointment as judges of the FHC.

According to a source at FJSC, the 62 lawyers had some months ago emerged successful in a CBT exam conducted by the Federal High Court, following which their names were forwarded to the commission for further screening and interview by National Judicial Council (NJC).

The source added that in line with the new policy of NJC, under the leadership of Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to ensure only credible, competent and persons of integrity were appointed as judicial officers, the names of the nominees were brought under public scrutiny.

“Members of the public were invited to submit feedback on nominees’ integrity, reputation and suitability for appointment as judicial officers,” the source stated, and added that the invitation was contained in a publication made on September 17, 2025.

The response by members of the public, which was considered encouraging, led to the dropping of 34 nominees found to be unsuitable for appointment as judges of the Federal High Court.

In one of the petitions dated September 22, 2025, but received on September 23, 2025 by Executive Secretary of FJSC, one of the nominees, a public officer from Imo State, was accused of having “zero reputation”, due to “her love for taking bribe”.

The petitioner, who claimed to be a victim of illegal demolition of his property in Abuja, alleged that he was not only arrested by the police over the demolition of his property but was forced to part with the sum of N1 million before he was released on bail.

While urging FJSC to refuse her nomination, the petitioner claimed that the character of the nominee “clearly is one that can best be described as person who clearly lacks integrity, total failure in terms of measurement of reputation and above all highly unsuitable to be appointed as a judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria”.

The petitioner added, “The judiciary has had its own backlash in the sight of the public but we are grateful for the leadership of the judiciary for taking bold steps in sanitising the judicial system”.

When contacted, Director, Information, NJC, Mrs. Kemi Ogedengbe, who refused to comment on the lack of integrity of majority of the nominees, stated that the council was expected to meet between January 13 and 14 to consider those shortlisted for appointment by FJSC.

Ogedengbe said the 28 shortlisted nominees will further face an interview panel of the council to fully ascertain their suitability, adding that the NJC is fully determined not to lower the entry point bar for appointment irrespective of who is involved.

She stated, “You are all aware, like the general public, too, that transparency and judicial integrity have remained a top priority for the Kekere-Ekun-led administration. There is no going back on that. Merit is the only factor that would come to play during the interview and only those found suitable would have their ways.”