The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, says the Supreme Court handled 2,456 matters and delivered 411 judgments during the 2025/2026 legal year.
Kekere-Ekun disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a special session marking the commencement of the 2026/2027 legal year of the apex court.
She explained that the matters handled comprised 1,179 general civil motions, 573 criminal motions, 13 Sharia-related motions and 676 appeals.
According to her, the appeals included 433 general civil appeals, 212 criminal appeals, 19 political appeals, 12 Sharia appeals and 10 originating summons.
The CJN said the court recorded an increase in its workload compared with the preceding legal year, when it handled 2,280 matters and delivered 369 judgments and rulings.
“From these matters, 411 judgments were delivered,” she said.
While describing the court’s performance as encouraging, Kekere-Ekun noted that the figures alone could not fully capture its operations.
She added that the Supreme Court had sustained efforts to improve case management and reduce delays caused by the accumulation of pending matters.
The CJN disclosed that the court’s E-Diary Office scheduled 1,385 matters for regular sittings between March 23 and December 17, 2026.
She said the scheduled matters comprised 1,021 motions and 364 appeals, with 733 involving older cases prioritised for hearing.
Kekere-Ekun further revealed that 178 long-dormant cases were resolved in Chambers, while 125 matters that had already been concluded were identified and removed from the court’s active docket.
According to her, the measures were designed to improve the management of pending cases, give priority to older matters and ensure that concluded cases no longer remained on the active list.
“These measures reflect a more deliberate approach to managing our docket,” she said.
She added that the E-Diary Office remained central to the court’s efforts to become more efficient and responsive to litigants.
The CJN said the Supreme Court would continue to pursue measures aimed at improving the administration of justice and addressing delays in the resolution of cases.
