RIVERS JUDICIARY AT CROSSROADS

Things fell apart in Rivers State Judiciary since the exit of the immediate past Chief Judge, Justice Iche Ndu, in August, 2013, and the centre can no longer hold. At least, the crisis in the state’s judiciary took a turn for the worst, after the retirement of Justice Iche Ndu. The crisis, however, did not come to many as a surprise. This is because, while the body of Jurists, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the retiring Iche Ndu, had in mind who would become the next Chief Judge of the State, the governor of the state, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, knew who would.
During the valedictory session in honour of Justice held at the Chief Judge’s Court, the former Chief Judge, who held the position for about twelve years, announced that his successor would be Justice Daisy Okocha, and he accorded her that honour throughout the ceremony.
But, one thing was quite clear at the cere¬mony. Neither Governor Chibuike Amaechi nor any of his cabinet was present, not even the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms. Expectedly, less than 14 hours after the event, Amaechi announced Justice Peter Agumagu as the Acting Chief Judge of the state. Agumagu was the presi¬dent of the State Customary Court of Appeal. His appointment, which took immediate ef¬fect, generated mixed reactions from groups, lawyers and the Peoples Democratic Party, within and outside the state.
Incidentally, this happened at a time the state had already been engulfed in a crisis following the mayhem that occurred at the State House of Assembly on July 9, 2013, where some legislators were wounded.
Consequently, the House of Assembly complex was shut down till date, while the judiciary was inundated with court cases. There was a public outcry over the appoint¬ment of Agumagu, and the state divided along anti and pro Amaechi groups.
On August 22, 2013, when the State branches of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) paid a courtesy visit to the Acting Chief Judge of the state, they pledged their loyalty and support to him and promised to work with him for the short time he had.
In their separate addresses at the event, which took place at the Chief Judge’s Cer¬emonial Court, the NBA and Body of SANs lauded Justice Agumagu’s appointment, and urged him to sustain the robust relationship they enjoyed with his predecessor, Justice Iche Ndu.
In his speech, the Chairman of the state branch of the NBA, Lawrence Oko-Jaja, said his appointment was in accordance with the law, until a substantive Chief Judge was ap¬pointed, as according to him, the position of Chief Judge of a state could not be left va¬cant.
He told Agumagu that the NBA deserved appointment as Judges because, it had best of Magistrates, imploring him to make rul¬ings and judgments available to lawyer after delivery.
Speaking on behalf of the Body of SANs, Granville Abibor, urged Justice Agumagu to replicate his developmental strides at the Customary Court of Appeal, in the High Court. Abibor also appealed to him to be accessible both to the lawyers and staffers, and to sustain the relationship, as it would create a peaceful working environment for legal practice.
In his response, Agumagu commended them for their visit, saying it was a demon¬stration of their support, which had given him confidence in his new portfolio. He as¬sured them that he would look into their demands, with a view to addressing the, especially within the short time he would be in office.
“I can perform with confidence because your visit has shown me the Bar is solidly be¬hind me. With the confidence, I can face all odds that may come my way. The little I can afford to do within my short time, I will do.”
Meanwhile, a section of the public be¬lieved that Justice Daisy Okocha was the most senior Judge of the state High Court, and the person recommended by the Nation¬al Judicial Council (NJC) to occupy the seat of a Chief Judge of the state. But, another group believed otherwise. They said though, the President of Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Agumagu could be chosen for the po¬sition. The same group believed the choice of the governor superseded NJC’s recommen¬dation.
Those in Amaechi’s camp are of the view that the appointment of Justice Okocha would not be in the interest of the governor, as the Judge would be loyal to the anti-Amae¬chi group, especially in their determined ef¬forts to impeach him. Notwithstanding the hues and cry from the opposition, Agumagu acted as Chief Judge for three months, while still operating from the Customary Court of Appeal.
Since he was suspended by NJC and tech¬nically removed as the Chief Judge, Rivers judiciary had been in near comatose. The lawyers, who describe the court as their farmland, had complained even to the ex¬tent of staging a peaceful protest in the court premises, under the aegis of Concerned Law¬yers, calling for the immediate appointment a substantive chief judge.
Early this year, a Federal High Court sit¬ting in Port Harcourt, presided over by Jus¬tice Lambo Akanbi, gave a ruling, ordering the state governor to obey the NJC and act in line with the recommendation of appoint¬ing the most senior Judge as an Acting Chief Judge. As usual, the governor ignored the ruling, and instead, left the judiciary without a Chief Judge.
Dramatically, the same Judge gave another ruling, stating that NJC could not compel the governor to accept its rec¬ommendation. He explained that the State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) was in a better position to make the rec¬ommendation because, the issue of appointing a Chief Judge was an internal affair.
Few hours after the ruling, the State House of Assem¬bly convened an emergency sitting, where the lawmakers screened and confirmed Agumagu as the substantive Chief Judge of Rivers State. During the screening, which took place at the Old Government House chambers, the Speaker, Ote¬lemaba Dan-Amachree, inquired from Justice Agumagu the most senior Judge in the state, and he said he was the one. He was , however, sworn-in that same day by the governor.
Agumagu’s appointed was, however, short-lived as the NJC released a sledge hammer on him, suspending him from office. This was, of course, challenged in court by the state government and the matter in still in court. Meanwhile, on Monday, June 2, 2014, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms, issued a statement dismissing the appointing of Justice Okocha as an Admin¬istrative Judge, pending the appointment of an acting Chief Judge or a Chief Judge, by the NJC.
The Attorney-General also warned of disciplinary mea¬sures including sack, against any judiciary staff that deals with her in that capacity. A day after, the NJC made public its recommendation, insisting that the most senior judge of the High Court should take over the administrative functions of the court, pending the determination of Agumagu’s case in court, as the judiciary “abhors” to keep the court vacant. The same directive was made for the Customary Court of Appeal by the NJC.
The next day, however, the JSC issued a directive to all the state judiciary workers and copied heads of departments, stating the same position of taken by the Attorney-General. These JSC and AG’s statements forced the staffers, under the aegis of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), to as well, convene a meeting, where they took a decision to embark on an indefinite strike, which took effect from Tuesday, June 10. But the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria attributed their de¬cision to embark on strike on, ‘security’. The previous day, some unknown persons had bombed the High Court in Ahoa¬da East. The same High court was bombed in January this year. While Amaechi group is accusing Wike Group of being responsible for the explosion, the self-acclaimed Speaker of the State Assembly, Evans Bipi said it was the handiwork of Amaechi’s group. He said the explosion occurred a day be¬fore the case he instituted, seeking to be declared the rightful Speaker of the House was coming up.
It would also be recalled that the political crisis in the state, which has affected the judiciary saw some a group of thugs bombing the same Ahoada High Court in January this year.
In what they claimed was a way of stemming the quag¬mire that crept into the state judiciary, the House of Assem¬bly moved to amend the High Court Principal Law 2001, which was sponsored by the Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary and lawmaker representing Etche Constituency II, Golden Chioma. The bill was eventually passed into law by a unanimous vote, after a public hearing on Wednesday, June 11, at the old Government Committee and sponsor of the Bill House.
Hon Chioma said the essence of the bill was to ensure that there was no vacancy in the judiciary. He stated that the amendment would remove some lacuna found in the Prin¬cipal Law, which he said, would also address the current crisis in the state judiciary as regards the appointment of a Chief Judge.
It is called. ‘Rivers State High Court (Amendment) Law 2014,’ and it amended the Section 40 of the Principal Law of 2001. Section 40 of the Principal Law, which was passed by the fifth Legislative Assembly, was amended by the addi¬tion of a new sub-section 2, to read: “Where the office of the Chief Judge is vacant, and it is impracticable to appoint an acting Chief Judge, or a Chief Judge, the Chief Registrar shall assign cases to any Judge and perform other administrative duties until an Acting Chief Judge is appointed”.
The Deputy Speaker, who presided over the plenary, thanked his colleagues for the sacrifice they made in the pas¬sage of the bill, pointing out that no amount of sacrifice would be sufficient to ensure the peace and progress of the state.
He said: “I want to thank my colleagues for your support and sacrifice in the quick passage of the bill. I want to assure you that no amount of sacrifice is too much to pay. It is for the peace and progress of this state that we took the decision. All of our constituents are suffering and the judiciary has to function.”
Earlier, at the public hearing, Kwanee reiterated that no amount of intimidation and harassment would stop the law¬makers from carrying out their legislative functions. He add¬ed that the Assembly had the responsibility to make laws and, also to ensure that there was stability in the polity.
Before the House of Assembly went in for the public hear¬ing, there was tension in the morning, in Port Harcourt, as thousands of youths, including some federal lawmakers, and Caretaker Committee Chairmen, protested against the rec¬ommendation of Justice Daisy Okocha, as the Administrative Judge of the Rivers State High Court, by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
The protesters, who stormed the state Judiciary Complex, Port Harcourt, at about 7am, in tens of buses, with placards, some of which read: “Daisy Okocha, whose interest is being served?” “Brazen impunity is an invitation to anarchy. NJC na wao!” and “stop this arrogance of power”. They were mo¬bilized from the 23 local government areas of the state.
Addressing the journalists during the protest, Senator Mag¬nus Abe and the Chairman of Association of Local Govern¬ment Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers State chapter, Hon. Oji Ngofar, said Rivers people would not accept any imposition of a Chief Justice by the NJC.
Ngofar said: “We are here to express our outrage and shock at the conduct of NJC in imposing an administrative judge, or whatever that means on Rivers people. And, we are saying that we would not accept a situation where the proper thing is not done. We will use every legal means at our disposal to resist this attempt.
“Why would they want to appoint a judge that already has court processes and litigations on her? Why? What is their motive? We believe that their motive is evil; and we are con¬cerned because the ordinary litigants in Rivers State are suf¬fering as a result of what NJC is doing in Rivers State. Why have they picked Rivers State?
“They want to politicize the issue of appointing a Chief Judge for what purpose? We are surprised and outraged at the impunity going on in Rivers State. And, what we think is that, as a matter of fact, let the proper process be followed. The constitution is clear on how to appoint a Chief Judge. It is very clear. It cannot be done by the NJC. The appointing au¬thority is the governor of the state. And, the Governor cannot cede that power to anybody.
The next day, Thursday, June 12, 2014, supporters of Jus¬tice Daisy Okocha, staged a peaceful protest which put mo¬torists off the major roads in Port Harcourt for several hours, thereby forcing passengers to trek far distance. As early as 6am, many of the Wike supporters mobilized people from the 21 local governments, to gather at the state Judiciary Complex in Port Harcourt in many buses.
Some of their placards displaced by the protesters who came in many buses read: “NJC is right on Daisy Okocha’, ‘Shame to a corrupt Registrar’, ‘Rivers people support NJC decision’, ‘Amaechi can’t kill the judiciary’, ‘Judiciary is not House of Assembly, Amaechi’, ‘Amaechi leave Daisy Okocha alone to work for Rivers people’, ‘Amaechi wants to pocket Judiciary and ‘Innocent inmates wailing: who will assign our cases?”
When Saturday Sun visited the area at 7am, over 10 Police vehicles, positioned at strategic places around the judiciary complex were sighted. At a point, a Police bomb disposal Hi¬lux arrived while policemen from the unit were seen check¬ing a Toyota Camry which was said to have been parked in front of the complex since morning of that day.
Addressing the mammoth, a member of the House of Rep¬resentatives, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, stated that the cause of the crisis in the state was as a result of the governor’s refusal to obey and respect the rule of law and separation of powers. He maintained that there was no lacuna in the constitution, as regards the appointment of a chief judge and no amendment on the state High Court Law would be accepted by Rivers people. According to him, the claim by the anti-Justice Oko¬cha lawmakers, that there was a lacuna was an aberration. He stressed that the state could not be ruled by an emperor and reminded members of the state House of Assembly that posterity would tell of their activities for the state and the peo¬ple. Also at the demonstration ground were the anti-Governor Amaechi lawmakers, from the state House of Assembly.
Source: Sun