The Senate will today screen the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Dahiru Musdapher.
Musdapher’s screening, which might be televised live , is in line with Section 231(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Senate spokesman and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, disclosed this yesterday at a news conference.
He also told Senate correspondents that the Senate would in plenary, screen Darius Ishaka, who is the ministerial nominee to represent Taraba State in the Federal Cabinet.
President Goodluck Jonathan had in a letter last week formally requested the Senate to screen and confirm the appointment of Musdapher as the substantive CJN. Musdapher, who was recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) will replace the former CJN, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, who retired on August 28.
Musdapher had since been sworn-in as the acting CJN.
However, Ishaka’s nomination by Jonathan was sequel to the rejection of Dr. Obadiah Ando by the Senate as the representative of Taraba State in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Meanwhile, a bill to amend the Court of Appeal Act 2005 to increase the number of justices of the Court of Appeal from 70 to 90, scaled the second reading on the Senate floor yesterday.
The Senate Majority Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma –Egba (SAN), had in his lead debate, observed that the need for the amendment was necessitated by the creation of additional divisions of the appellate court throughout the country and the exigencies of clearing the various election petitions arising from the 2011 elections, which the present justices could not cope with.
He said the newly- created divisions of the appellate court lacked adequate manpower to handle the numerous cases before them. Ndoma Egba listed the newly -created divisions to include the Owerri, Sokoto, Ilorin and Calabar divisions.
According to him, the passage of the bill will ensure that the various appeals emanating from the 2011 and future elections are easily dispensed with within the time frame prescribed by the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution as amended.
He said with the eventual passage of the bill, a new division of the court would be created for Benue State, saying that the Lagos Division would have three functional panels.
He added that the Lagos Division served over 49 judges of Lagos State High Court and about 15 judges of the Federal High Court as well as six judges of the National Industrial Court (NIC), Security and Exchange Tribunal, the Army, Navy and Air Force Court Marshals.