Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has cautioned that the Nigerian public will lose confidence in the judiciary if judges continue to delay case execution.
She made this statement during the third annual National Judicial Council (NJC) conference on judges’ performance evaluation in Abuja on Tuesday.
Expressing concern over the rising number of pending cases and the slow rate at which judges are resolving them, the CJN highlighted alarming statistics.
“As of the first quarter of 2024, we had a total of 243,253 cases pending in our superior courts of record, exclusive of the Supreme Court,” Kekere-Ekun said. These cases include 199,747 civil suits and 43,506 criminal cases.
The CJN expressed dissatisfaction with the low case disposal rates, noting that some judges had failed to deliver a single judgment over an entire quarter.
“This is simply unacceptable,” she remarked, urging the judiciary to take immediate action to address the situation.
To improve judicial efficiency, Kekere-Ekun called for the use of technology and case management innovations such as digital case management systems, virtual courtrooms and e-filing.
She also advocated for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation and arbitration to ease the workload on courts.
“My Lords, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot wish away the growing backlog of cases or expect a different result when we continue to do things the same way,” she said, stressing that delayed justice equates to denied justice.
The CJN emphasized that timely and effective case resolutions are crucial to maintaining public trust in the judiciary, urging judicial officers to take full advantage of digital tools to enhance performance.
