Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) has proposed to the National Assembly to confer power of control of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to the National Judicial Council (NJC). The CCT and CCB are creations of the executive, at the federal level, by virtue of Section 153(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. Lawyers have reacted positively to the CJN's proposal. The Constitutional provisions for the CCB/CCT make it answerable only to the Presidency, in conjunction with the Senate. This has generated debate among judges, lawyers and other commentators, as the Presidency and the entire federal executive are also supposed to be subject to the control of the CCB. The NJC was established under Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution to appoint, promote and discipline judicial officers, but the chairman and members of the CCT were not listed as those the NJC could exercise disciplinary control on.