crime

Judicial Misconduct: NJC suspends 3 judges, places 6 on watchlist

4 November 2026

The Council, which took the decision at its 112th meeting held on November 3 under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, also placed six other judges on its watchlist and issued them a warning. Meanwhile, those the NJC placed on the watchlist included a judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Bello Kawu, after it found merit in a petition establishing that he granted interim bail

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri The National Judicial Council (NJC) has suspended three judges for one year over alleged judicial misconduct, with two of them also barred from promotion for three years. The Council, which took the decision at its 112th meeting held on November 3 under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, also placed six other judges on its watchlist and issued them a warning.

A late-night statement by the Deputy Director (Information) at the NJC, Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, further revealed that, aside from dismissing 24 petitions that levelled sundry allegations against judges across the federation, the Council approved the appointment of 28 judicial officers and recommended four petitions for further investigation. Babalola-Ogedengbe disclosed that Justice Hannatu Mohammed Kabir of the Nasarawa State High Court was suspended for one year without pay and barred from elevation for three years over the unlawful detention of a litigant for 58 days without proper contempt proceedings.

“The Investigation Committee found that she ordered the litigant’s arrest and detention for alleged disobedience of court orders without the issuance and service of the mandatory Forms 48 and 49 or the institution of proper contempt proceedings. “It held that the alleged contempt occurred outside the court’s presence and could not lawfully be summarily tried and punished.

The Committee also found that the action violated the litigant’s right to fair hearing,” the statement added. Likewise, the Grand Kadi of the Jigawa State Sharia Court of Appeal, Mohammed Sani Salihu, was suspended without pay over his involvement in reopening a judgment delivered by the FCT Upper Area Court. The Committee found that the Grand Kadi exceeded his authority by constituting a committee to review the judgment and subsequently assigning the matter to a Higher Sharia Court Judge, who received fresh evidence and delivered another judgment.

The Committee held that the process amounted to an appeal against a valid judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction. The new judgment was subsequently set aside by the Jigawa State High Court. The Committee also found the act to constitute a violation of Rule 3.3.1 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers, 2016. The NJC directed that the most senior Kadi of the Jigawa State Sharia Court of Appeal should perform the functions of the office of the Grand Kadi for the period of the suspension.

For his part, Justice Sobere Biambo of the Rivers State High Court was suspended, with a restriction placed on his promotion, after it was found that he issued bench warrants and imposed fines on litigants in a civil dispute without due process. The Committee found that he ordered the arrest of the petitioners for alleged disobedience of an interim injunction and subsequently imposed a fine of N300,000 on each without instituting contempt proceedings or serving Forms 48 and 49.

It held that the alleged contempt occurred outside the court’s presence and ought not to have been summarily tried and punished. “Hon. Justice Kayode Agunloye of the FCT High Court was cautioned in one of the petitions over his handling of post-judgment garnishee proceedings in a suit involving First Bank of Nigeria Plc. “The Committee found that he improperly entertained and granted a fresh ex parte application for a Garnishee Order Nisi on October 22, 2025, after an earlier, similar application had been withdrawn and struck out.

“This was while other pending applications, including the bank’s application for stay of execution, had been adjourned to November 4, 2025. The Committee held that his action created room for justifiable suspicion,” the statement added. Meanwhile, those the NJC placed on the watchlist included a judge of the FCT High Court, Justice Bello Kawu, after it found merit in a petition establishing that he granted interim bail to the immediate former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr.

Abubakar Malami, SAN, despite a subsisting remand order issued by another judge of the same court. The NJC directed its Secretariat to formally request the Imo State Judicial Service Commission to include the name of the Acting Chief Judge, Justice Ijeoma Agugua, in the list of candidates for appointment as the substantive Chief Judge.