Judiciary workers, under the aegis of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, on Sunday condemned the suspension of the Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Theresa Uzokwe, by the Abia State House of Assembly.
Justice Uzokwe was reportedly removed on Friday as the Abia State chief judge by the lawmakers, who reportedly adopted the report of an eight-man ad hoc committee. The committee indicted the judge for misconduct.
They directed Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to appoint an acting Chief Judge pending the completion of investigation by its committee into alleged acts of misconduct by Justice Uzokwe.
The governor had subsequently appointed Justice Obisike Orji as the acting chief judge of the state.
But speaking with our correspondent on the telephone, the National President of JUSUN, Mr. Marwan Adamu, said the suspension of the chief judge without the recommendation of the National Judicial Council was unacceptable.
He said, “What is happening in Abia State is unacceptable. The suspension did not follow due process. If the chief judge has done anything wrong, there is a procedure.
“The House of Assembly cannot unilaterally suspend her without the input of the National Judicial Council. We expect that if the chief judge did anything wrong, the House of Assembly would write to the NJC to enable the NJC to act on it. But in a situation that the process was not followed, I think it is null and void.
“It happened in Rivers, Sokoto and Kwara states, and the cases were fought up to the Supreme Court which ruled that a chief judge could not be suspended without the NJC’s recommendations.”
He also said the union was not aware of the allegations levelled against the suspended chief judge.
“We are monitoring the situation. We are going to meet and have a resolution on the matter. But for now, we condemn it and we are asking the state House of Assembly and the authorities in Abia State to respect the rule of law,” he said.
Similarly, a human rights advocacy group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has condemned the suspension of Uzokwe by the state House of Assembly.
It equally flayed Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s replacement of Justice Uzokwe with Justice Obisike Orji as the acting chief judge of the state.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Adewale Timothy, SERAP argued that Justice Uzokwe’s removal violated Sections 292(1)(a)(ii) and 21(d) Part 11 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.
It said, “It amounts to a blatant attack on the integrity and independence of the judiciary. No judge, anywhere in Nigeria, can be removed without the involvement of the National Judicial Council, no matter the level of allegations of misconduct against that judge.
“Governor Ikpeazu must rescind his illegal appointment of a new chief judge, and the Abia State House of Assembly must withdraw the apparently politically-motivated suspension of Justice Uzokwe without further delay. Doing so will be entirely consistent with the decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case of Raliat Elelu-Habeed & anor v Attorney General of the Federation and Attorney General of Kwara State (2012).”
By Ade Adesomoju and Oladimeji Ramon
