Table of Contents
Section 249 (1)
There shall be a Federal High Court.
(There will be a Federal High Court (FHC).)
Section 249 (2)
The Federal High Court shall consist of –
(The FHC will be made up on the following: )
Section 249 (2)(a)
a Chief Judge of the Federal High Court; and
(The FHC will be made up of a Chief Judge of the Federal High Court and; )
Section 249 (2)(b)
such number of Judges of the Federal High Court as may be prescribed by the an Act of the National Assembly.
(Any amount of Judges which a law created by the National Assembly has decided the FHC to have.)
Section 250 (1)
The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Judge of the Federal High Court shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, subject to confirmation of such appointment by the Senate.
(For a person to be appointed into the office of the Chief Judge of the FHC, such person must be first recommended by the National Judicial Council to the President of the Federation who will then appoint but such appointment must be confirmed by the Senate.)
Section 250 (2)
The appointment of a person to the office of a Judge of the Federal High Court shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.
(For a person to be appointed into the office of a Judge of the FHC, the National Judicial Council (NJC) will first make recommendations and then the President will appoint based on the recommendation of the NJC.)
Section 250 (3)
A person shall not be qualified to hold the office of Chief Judge of the Federal High Court unless he is qualified to practise as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than ten years.
(For a person to be qualified to be appointed into the office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, such person must have been qualified to practice as a lawyer in Nigeria for not less than 10 years.)
Section 250 (4)
If the office of Chief Judge of the Federal High Court is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then, until a person has been appointed to and has assumed those functions of that office until the person holding the office has resumed those functions the President shall appoint the most senior Judge of the Federal High Court to perform those functions.
(If for some reason the office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court is vacant/ empty or the holder of the office is unable to perform his functions for whatever reason, the President of the Federation will appoint the most Senior Judge of the Federal High Court to act in that official capacity until an appointment has been made officially.)
Section 250 (5)
Except on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, an appointment pursuant to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section shall cease to have effect after the expiration of three months from the date of such appointment and the President shall not re-appoint a person whose appointment has lapsed.
(Except in situations where the National Judicial Council made a recommendation, qualification for an appointment to the office of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court as contained under sub section 3 of this section will only last for 3 months counting from the date of the appointment. The President of the Federation cannot re-appoint someone whose appointment has expired.)
