Not fewer than 34 lawyers nominated for appointment as Judges of the Federal High Court of Nigeria (FHC) have failed the integrity test for the appointment.
They were dropped in the race for the appointment as Judicial Officers following avalanche of public petitions.
The test was part of the new guidelines approved by the National Judicial Council (NJC) under Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, to eliminate persons of doubtful characters from being appointed as judicial officers.
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The 34 legal practitioners were part of the 62 applicants nominated for the position of Judges of the Federal High Court but got knocked off by various petitions against them during the integrity test.
A reliable source at the NJC said that only 28 nominees who recea a clean bill of health during the integrity test would now face the interview panel of the Council next month.
He further told LEADERSHIP that 62 applicants passed Computer-based Test (CBT) conducted by the Federal High Court consequent upon which their names were forwarded to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).
However, in line with the laid down procedures, the FJSC was said to have applied the policy of integrity test endorsed by the current Chief Justice of Nigeria on public feedback on nominees by publishing the names of the 62 applicants.
The publication of nominees' names on September 17, 2025, invited members of the public to submit feedback on nominees' integrity, reputation and suitability for judicial appointment.
In one of the petitions from public feedback, a female nominee was accused of obtaining bribes in the discharge of her official duties and was referred to the Police Service Commission (PSC) for investigation.
At the end of the investigation, the PSC found as a fact that the female nominee actually demanded and received N1m bribe in the course of a court matter that passed through her office.
Armed with the established facts of the petition written by a lawyer against the female nominee and several others, the FJSC ended up upholding the nomination of only 28 names, forwarding same to the NJC and dropping the remaining 34 for failure to scale the integrity test.
Our correspondent gathered that the lucky 28 nominees would be presented to the NJC at its meeting scheduled for January 2026.
The 28 shortlisted nominees will face NJC interview panel days before the proper meeting, which the source said would hold in the second week of next month.
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When contacted for comments on the development, the NJC Director of Information, Mrs Kemi Ogedegbe, confirmed that the Council would meet between January 13 and 14, 2026, to consider issues in the process of the shortlisting candidates for appointments as Judges of the Federal High Court.
According to her, the 28 shortlisted nominees will face the Council interview panel days before the meeting, between Monday and Tuesday, while the meeting is slated for Wednesday and Thursday.
The Director, who refused detailed comments on petitions against some nominees, insisted that the NJC was fully determined not to lower the entry point bar no matter who is involved.
"You are all aware, like the general public too, that transparency and judicial integrity have remained a top priority for the Kekere-Ekun-led administration. There is no going back on that. Merit is the only factor that would come to play during the interview and only those found suitable would have their ways," the NJC spokesperson stated.
