"Nigerians Are the Most Litigious People on Earth": CJN Ariwoola Laments, Reveals Huge Number of Pending Cases

• Justice Olukayode Ariwoola has lamented that Nigerians are putting unprecedented pressure on the judiciary
• He said this in Abuja at the special session of the Supreme Court held to mark the beginning of the 2022/2023 legal year
• According to the CJN, in every little disagreement, Nigerians rush to court, and in every lost case, they rush to appeal, even up to the Supreme Court

Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has lamented the judicial situation in the country, stating that 6,884 appeals were currently pending at the Supreme Court.

According to him, the Supreme Court was overwhelmed by cases, some of which were flimsy. He added that some of these cases should not be in court, let alone on appeal, The Nation Newspaper reports.

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Going further, he claimed that the Supreme Court ranks as the busiest in the world due to Nigerians’ preference for litigation as against exploring other dispute resolution mechanisms.

The CJN spoke disclosed this in Abuja at a special session of the Supreme Court, Daily Nigerian added.

He said:

“The Nigerian public needs to be reminded of the need to do less litigation and embrace more of alternative dispute resolution to free the courts of this unnecessary over-stretching of human and material resources. As rightly observed, Nigerians are the most litigious people on earth; especially the political class.

“In every little disagreement, we rush to court; and in every lost case, we rush to appeal even up to the Supreme Court, no matter how little the issue might be. That has obviously accounted for the several appeals pending in Supreme Court.

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CJN reveals number of pending cases at Supreme Court

Going further, Justice Ariwoola gave statistical details about the Supreme Court’s performance in the last legal year.

He added:

“Our pending (backlog) civil appeals are 4,741 while the number of pending criminal appeals is 1,392. On the other hand, we have 751 moribund appeals for disposal which brings the total number of pending appeals in this honourable court to 6884."

2023 elections: Court sacks guber, ADC House of Assembly candidates

The election of the governorship and House of Assembly candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ogun has been nullified by the Federal High Court.

According to the court in Abeokuta, the state capital, on Friday, November 25, the primary elections which produced the ADC's gubernatorial candidate, Biyi Otegbeye, and other candidates failed to meet the provisions of the Electoral Act.

The court's verdict was delivered on Friday by the presiding judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko.

Source: Legit.ng