US embassy cable - 04ABUJA380

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000380 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KDEM, KJUS, NI 
SUBJECT: OBASANJO APPOINTS NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICES 
 
CLASSIFIED BY COUNSELOR JAMES MAXSTADT, FOR REASONS 1.5 B AND 
D. 
 
1.  (U)  President Obasanjo named two new justices to 
Nigeria,s Supreme Court in a letter to the Senate on 9 
February.  These appointments were recommended to him by the 
National Judicial Council (NJC) on 27 November, 2003. 
 
2.  (U)  The first appointee is George Adesola Oguntade, a 
judge on the Federal Appeals Court.  Oguntade, a Yoruba, was 
the senior judge in line for this appointment in Nigeria's 
seniority-based system.  He is also currently sitting on the 
panel for ANPP presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari,s 
election tribunal.  It is expected that he will be replaced 
by another Yoruba and his transfer should not delay the case. 
 
3.  (U)  The second appointee is Sunday Akiola Akiotu, also 
sitting on the Federal Appeals Court.  Akiotu is also a 
Yoruba, but is junior to many other Appeals Court judges in 
line. 
4.  (C)  COMMENT:  Oguntade,s appointment is seen by his 
Federal Court colleagues as a timely and well-deserved 
promotion, and has their full support.  Opinion is split on 
how the appointment will affect the Buhari election suit. 
Some see Oguntade as one of two pro-Obasanjo judges on the 
five-judge Appeals Court panel trying the case.  Others say 
Oguntade might have been less-than-sympathetic to Obasanjo 
and was booted upstairs for that reason.  The Supreme Court 
is the next stop in that case, if the Appeals Court finds for 
Buhari or sends it up without comment.  Predictably, some 
Nigerians are more concerned over the appointment of two 
Yorubas to the Supreme Court at the same time, especially 
since the justices they replaced were from other zones in 
Nigeria. 
ROBERTS