–

RIVERS State is again in the news. As usual, the news is not positive. But like others, it is heating up the polity. This time around, the controversy is over the appointment of a substantive chief judge of the state. For some time now, the state governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has been at loggerheads with the National Judicial Council, NJC, over who should succeed Iche Ndu, the former chief judge, who retired on August 20, 2013. Constitutionally, the state’s Judicial Service Commission, JSC, is mandated to initiate a process for the appointment. As required by law, the JSC forwarded the names of Peter Agumagu, then the president of the Customary Court of Appeal, and Daisy Okocha, the most senior judge in the state’s judiciary, to the NJC, which, after deliberations and by a letter dated July 22, 2013 forwarded to the governor, recommended that Justice Okocha should be appointed the new chief judge on the ground that she is the most senior on the higher bench. But the NJC’s recommendation did not suit the fancy of governor Amaechi, who decided to appoint  and swear-in Justice Agumagu as acting chief judge without going through the process stipulated by the constitution. The governor’s action was challenged in a federal high court in Port Harcourt by a group known as Kengena Unity Forum.

On February 18, 2014, the court nullified Agumagu’s appointment and directed the governor to comply with the relevant provisions of the 1999 constitution. But by the time the court made that ruling, Agumagu had served out the three-month period allowed by law. That notwithstanding, the governor still stuck to his gun by appealing to the NJC in his letter dated September 23, 2013, to review its decision in favour of Agumagu but the Council refused to shift ground. In order to circumvent the law, Worgu Boms, the state’s attorney-general approached a federal high court in Port Harcourt, seeking a judicial interpretation of Section271 of the constitution relating to the appointment of a chief judge and to also determine whether or not Agumagu was the right candidate for the post of a chief judge. On March 18, this year, the court delivered judgment that favoured the state government. As if the governor was waiting anxiously for that judgment, Agumagu was sworn-in as the substantive CJ on the same day without reference to the NJC.

On its part, the NJC, vide its letter dated March 26, 2014, suspended Agumagu from office as a judicial officer and also queried him for contravening paragraph 21(d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the constitution. The NJC based its query on the fact that Agumagu did not allow due process to be followed in his swearing-in as CJ. For this reason, it resolved that it would neither recognize nor deal with him as the CJ of Rivers State. And since the constitution never envisaged a situation whereby the position of a CJ would be vacant, the NJC decided to fill the vacuum by appointing Justice Okocha as the acting administrative CJ pending the time the issue would be sorted out. But the Rivers State government   smelt a rat in the action of the NJC which is not known to the constitution. It felt that the NJC was acting the script of President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by that appointment which, it claimed, was a stepping stone in the plot to impeach Amaechi.

Like the NJC, the government has resolved never to have any dealing with the administrative CJ and has come up with a Bill which provides for the chief registrar of the high court of Rivers State, who is not a judicial officer, to perform the administrative duties of a CJ. In his new capacity, the chief registrar will now assign cases to judges.You may call that an abomination but it has happened in Rivers State. These unfolding developments have heated up the polity giving expression in series of sponsored political protests. Realnews has decided to examine these developments in this week’s cover story entitled “Judiciary Politics in Rivers State.” As usual, Olu Ojewale, the general editor, is the author of the story. Happy reading.

Mike Akpan
Editor-in-Chief

mikeakpan2003@yahoo.com  |  08023880068

— Jun. 30, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT