Court of Appeal tackles backlog of 242 applications

Begins vacation on July 17

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, yesterday, said the appellate court has taken pragmatic measures to ensure speedy disposition of pending applications.

This comes in the wake of her setting up of five task forces made up of justices from less busy divisions of the court, including Makurdi, Ilorin, Yola, Ekiti and Sokoto to reduce the workload in Lagos, Benin, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja .

The notice of the postings, personally signed by her, reads: ‘’I believe we are now ready to face the challenges. Furthermore, they are to reserve two weeks in the fourth quarter whereby they will move to an identifiable division and preside over some of the pending appeals thus reducing the workload in the said divisions.’’ 

The panel from Ilorin corridor which sat in Benin division, ruled on 57 appeals in the period which ended on June 30, 2017 while that of Ekiti, which sat in Enugu axis, delivered 38 judgments.

Justices of Sokoto division, on a rescue mission to Abuja zone, ruled on 31 appeals and struck out two matters while the justices of Yola division dismissed 21 appeals in Port Harcourt division. Meanwhile the annual vacation of the jurists commences next Monday and ends on September 11.