Justice Ijeoma Agugua has been appointed Acting Chief Judge of Imo State. She is the most senior judge in the State judiciary. Her appointment was approved by the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma
By Emma Ogbuehi
In keeping with his Constitutional mandate on the preservation of judicial integrity and probity, Justice Ijeoma Agugua has been appointed Acting Chief Judge of Imo State. She is the most senior judge in the State judiciary. Her appointment was approved by the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma,
Justice Agugua comes with an enviable record of jurisprudential experience and knowledge and is expected to bring this into bear in piloting the judiciary in Imo State until a new substantive Chief Judge is appointed. Her appointment comes on the heels of controversies surrounding appointments of some judges in the state lately. Late in June, the National Judicial Commission (NJC) had recommended compulsory retirement for 10 Judges in the State Judiciary, for various reasons.
The NJC had earlier in April disowned Governor Uzodimma’s unilateral appointment of Theophilus Nzeukwu as the state’s acting Chief Judge.
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Uzodimma had announced Nzeukwu’s appointment as the Acting Chief Judge of the State, five months after the former Chief Justice, Theresa Chikeka, was removed by the NJC following an indictment for age falsification.
However, while disassociating itself from the appointment, the NJC said Nzeukwu ranked fourth in the hierarchy of judges in the state.
In a press statement signed by its Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe, the NJC said it received Governor Uzodimma’s letter requesting approval of the appointment of his nominee for the judicial position but had not considered it
The statement noted that Uzodimma picked Nzeukwu, who was the fourth on the hierarchy of the state’s High Court judges, to replace the former Chief Judge, Chikeka, who was sent on compulsory retirement last November for age falsification.
It added that Uzodinma, in his letter to the NJC, gave reasons for passing over the three most senior judges in the state to pick Nzeukwu for the vacant role. The council did not share the governor’s reasons in its statement.
“The Council has not given approval to the governor for the appointment of the Acting Chief Judge,” read the statement issued in response to media reports of Nzeukwu’s appointment as the Acting Chief Judge of Imo State.
It added, “The council is not a party to the process of purported appointment of Hon. Justice Theophilus Nnamdi Nzeukwu as the Acting Chief Judge.”
Section 271 of the Nigerian constitution provides that the appointment of a Chief Judge in a State High Court shall be made based on the recommendation of the NJC.
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