15 judges to face NJC investigative panels

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has established 15 Boards of Inquiry to investigate 15 judges accused of various forms of misconduct.

A statement from NJC Chief Information Officer Soji Oye on Friday said the council set up the panels at its 99th meeting held in Abuja on Thursday.

The council meeting held between Wednesday and Thursday was chaired by its chairman and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola.

Mr. Oye said the NJC made the decision to create the 15 Boards of Inquiry after considering recommendations from three Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committees (PCACs).

The three PCACs evaluated a total of 66 petitions forwarded to them by the NJC from across the federation, Oye said.

At the end of the NJC's review of the PCAC report, Oye said, the board dismissed 51 of the petitions "for lack of merit, subjudice, or grounds for appeal or that the relevant judge s 'is removed from service."

The council proceeded to set up 15 commissions of inquiry into the remaining 15 petitions deemed to have substance worthy of further investigation.

The names of the judges expected to be tried were not named in the CNM statement.

The council usually releases the names of judges who have been sanctioned at the end of these investigations.

New IT policy

The NJC, according to Mr. Oye, has also received the revised Judicial Information Technology Policy which sets out general requirements and responsibilities for Nigerian judicial systems and information.

"The policy provides guidance to courts and judicial bodies to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) of judicial function and process.

"It also stipulates guidance for acceptable use of the system, services and technologies as well as provisions for secure storage of forensic data and recovery processes in the event of an emergency or distress. It further provides incident management guidelines and policies, including data center deployment and usage policies,” the NJC statement read.

He added that the scope was "intended for all courts and judicial bodies in Nigeria, including Nigerian judicial personnel, employed or under contract with any judicial body dealing with information generated, received, stored , transmitted or printed".< /p> READ ALSO: NJC Delivers Renovated Supreme Court Courtroom

He added that the system encompasses all personally identifiable or judicially identifiable data held within the systems and processes of their courts and judicial bodies, including supporting mechanisms and technologies for managing such data at rest or in transit.

All staff must also comply with the policy and associated standard protocols and procedures that have been put in place to support the document, according to the NJC.

He added that the policy is applicable to all judicial units, departments of all judicial organs of the Nigerian judicial system.

Appointment

The CNM also took note of the swearing-in of federal and state high court judges recommended for appointment at its previous meetings.

Reports from the Council's standing and ad hoc committees were also presented at the meeting, along with notifications of the retirement of 16 judges and notification of the death of a federal and state high court judge.

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