We Have 39,526 Cases Pending Before Court of Appeal — Justice Dongban-Mensem

The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, said that the court has 39,526 pending cases.

Justice Dongban-Mensem made this known during a ceremony to usher in the 2023/2024 new legal year.

She said the appeal court received a total of 7,295 appeals and 3,665 motions in the 2022/2023 legal year.

“During the 2022/2023 legal year, a total of 7,295 appeals and 3,665 motions were filed in the 20 Divisions of the Court.

”The court determined 3,765 cases and disposed of 5,617 motions; 1,030 of these appeals had been dismissed and 10,381 allowed.

“The court still has a total of 39,526 Appeals pending as at 31st of August, 2023. This is an increase from 34,037 pending in the Court in the 2021/2022 Legal Year,” she said.

She said that a total of 98 panels were constituted to hear election petitions across the country to handle a total of 1,209 petitions that were filed.

Among the petitions, she said, five were filed at the presidential election petition court and have been concluded, while some of 147 filed at the senatorial election tribunal have been delivered and 417 petitions from the House of Representatives election are also being attended to.

She also said that a total of 557 petitions associated with the State houses of Assembly, and 83 gubernatorial elections petitions are being disposed off, adding that twenty-eight states participated in the governorship elections, and petitions were filed in 24 states.

According to her, the Abuja division is currently overwhelmed by voluminous documents and suffers from lack of adequate storage facilities and office space.

She, therefore, appealed to the Minister of the FCT to provide a large piece of land for the construction of the Abuja Division.

Speaking at the event, a former Minister of Justice, Mr Kanu Agabi, SAN, said that Nigeria’s continued survival greatly depends on the transparency of judicial officers in the discharge of their judicial functions.

Agabi, therefore, pleaded with Judges and Justices not to loose confidence and principles in themselves no matter the challenges.

He spoke on behalf of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) on the occasion of the 2023/2024 legal year of the Court of Appeal.

He added that the contributions of judicial officers in the past years have kept the country intact and from chaos and anarchy.