NJC Reinstates Justice G.K Olotu as Judge of Federal High Court

It would be recalled that Justice Olotu was appointed a judge of Federal High Court on July 28, 2000 and resumed on the Bench on September 1, 2000. The NJC recommended her compulsory retirement on February 27, 2014, which the then President Goodluck Jonathan approved.

The NJC’s compulsory retirement hammer also fell on Justice U. A Inyang of the FCT High Court, Abuja.

Aggrieved by the decision, Justice Olotu sued the NJC at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja. The NICN, on September 20, 2017 upheld the NJC’s decision.

Dissatisfied, the Judge approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja for redress and won.

The Appellate Court on February 25, 2022 voided Justice Olotu’s compulsory retirement.

In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the court, led by Justice Peter Ige, held among others, that the process leading to Justice Olotu’s removal was flawed.

Justice Danlami Senchi, who read the lead judgment, held that since the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) did not recommend that Justice Olotu be compulsorily retired, the recommendation made by the NJC to Nigerian President in that regard was unlawful, null and void.

Justice Senchi noted that since the FJSC is constitutionally empowered to recommend lawyers for appointment as Federal Judges, its recommendation is also necessary before such a judge could be relieved of his or her appointment.

He proceeded to hold that without the FJSC first recommending a judge for removal, such recommendation by the NJC (as it is in the case of Justice Olotu) and the subsequent acceptance of the recommendation by the President are a nullity.

The Court of Appeal thus, set aside the earlier judgment by Justice E. N. Agbakoba of the NICN, which upheld Justice Olutu’s compulsory retirement.

In reading the judgment, Justice Senchi held: “This finding by the trial court is perverse, wrong and a miscarriage of justice with regards to the appellant whose complaint was that the jurisdiction of the 2nd respondent was not evoked for failure to comply with Paragraph 13(b) of Part I of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution. Thus, the decision of the trial court breached the right of the appellant to fair hearing and such decision is a nullity.

“The issue number one of the appellant and or the issue couched by the court is hereby resolved in favour of the appellant and against the respondents.

“Thus, this appeal is meritorious and it is accordingly allowed. Going into the other issues will only amount to a waste of judicial energy.

“The decision of the National Industrial Court in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/380/2016 delivered on September 20, 2017, being a nullity, it is hereby set aside.

“Consequently, the action of the 2nd respondent by recommending the compulsory retirement of the appellant as a Judge of the Federal High Court, and the approval or acceptance of such recommendation by the 1st respondent is hereby declared null and void and of no effect, being a nullity, it is hereby set aside.”

The court added that the appellant is entitled to all benefits and privileges as a serving judge.

The judgment also specifically held that Justice Olotu should be paid all her benefits as a Federal High Court Judge.

Justice Senchi, however, was not direct on whether or not Justice Olotu should be recalled, and did not make a specific order of reinstatement.

However, he did hold, in orders 1-4, that the recommendation upon which Justice Olotu was compulsory retired was a nullity, and it set it aside. This implies that Justice Olotu was never retired in the eyes of the law and is still a serving Justice.