The Supreme Court said Thursday it has constituted two panels to continue hearing cases during its annual vacation that will commence on Monday.
Consequently, the apex court, in a statement signed by its Director of Press and Information, Dr. Festus Akande, barred 10 Justices from proceeding on vacation.
It stated that the affected jurists would sit in two panels that would comprise of five Justices each.
The decision it said was necessitated by the numerous appeals that arose from conduct of the 2019 general elections.
The statement read: “Two panels of the Supreme Court, comprising of five Justices each will be sitting during the annual vacation which marks the end of 2018/2019 legal year.
“This development arose from the numerous appeals on election related matters that have been streaming to the Court since the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
“The annual vacation will commence on Monday, 22nd July, 2019, but the Court has constituted two Panels that will be sitting during the holiday period in order to see that all election related matters are dealt with. In view of this development, all parties involved will be contacted through hearing notices”.
Recall that President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, had earlier cancelled annual vacation of appellate court Justices as a result of plethora of cases pending before various election petition tribunals across the federation.
