Buhari nominates Justice Ishaq Bello candidate for ICC president

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari nominated the incumbent Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Usman Bello as the nation’s candidate to be President of the International Criminal Court, Hague.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) which began functioning on 1 July 2002, is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

The elections are scheduled for the nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties, to be held at the United Nations, New York, from 7-17 December 2020, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) will elect six judges to fill one-third of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) 18 judicial seats.

Prior to this nomination, Hon. Ishaq Usman Bello has served on several bar/Bench committees before his appointment as a Member, National Judicial Council. He has also handled huge special responsibilities under the Judiciary including; Chairing Election Petition Tribunals, representing Nigeria and leading brother judges to attend Conferences, symposiums and seminars around the world.

As the Chief Judge of the FCT, Bello paid attention to the de-congestion of prisons in Abuja. He started visiting prisons within his jurisdiction, releasing over forty awaiting trial prisoners in the process.

By the end of October 2017, he was appointed as the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Prison Reforms and De-congestion, now Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reforms and De-congestion, by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.

The committee’s responsibility was to lead the reform processes of the Nigerian prison system.