President Muhammadu Buhari has been sued by a lawyer Lawrence Nnoli, over an alleged delay in appointing Supreme Court Justices.

Nnoli who noted that the number of justices has decreased to 12 as against the constitutionally required number of 21 in his lawsuit filed at the federal high court in Lagos, affirmed that the president’s failure to appoint more justices of the supreme court was “a serious breach of Section 231(2) of the 1999 Constitution and poses a grave danger to the course of justice in Nigeria”.

The lawyer added that even with the National Judicial Council (NJC) recommendation of elevation of some court of appeal justices to the apex court, the Nigerian President is yet to forward their names to the national assembly for screening and confirmation.

He asked the court to compel President Buhari to perform his duties as it “poses a grave risk to the peace and progress of Nigeria as citizens’ confidence in the supreme court towards dispensing justice in a timely manner may be eroded owing to the insufficient number of Justices of the supreme court available."