NJC disowns Imo governor’s unilateral appointment of Acting Chief Judge

The National Judicial Council (NJC) on Friday disowned Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma’s unilateral appointment of Theophilus Nzeukwu as the state’s acting Chief Judge.

In a press statement signed by its Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe, the NJC said it received Governor Uzodinma’s letter requesting approval of the appointment of his nominee for the judicial position but has yet to consider it.

The statement noted that Mr Uzodinma picked Mr Nzeukwu, who is the fourth on the hierarchy of the state’s High Court judges, to replace the former Chief Judge of the state, T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka, who was sent on compulsory retirement last November for age falsification.

It added that Mr Uzodinma, in his letter to the NJC, gave reasons for passing over the three most senior judges in the state to pick Mr 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 Mr 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.”

According to the statement, the NJC has only scheduled deliberation on the governor’s request for its meeting slated for 29 and 30 April.

Mr Uzodimma on Wednesday announced Mr Nzeukwu’s appointment as the Acting Chief Judge of Imo State on Wednesday, five months after the NJC recommended the compulsory retirement of the Chief Judge.

Disregard for the law?

The unilateral appointment of an Acting Chief Judge of a state by a state governor without the approval of the NJC raises a legal issue.

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. Any appointment made by the governor without the recommendation of the NJC is only valid for three months and the governor cannot reappoint the same person after the period.

So, the governor may not have violated any law if he is recommending Mr Nzeukwu for the role for the first time, and has no plan to renominate him after the expiration of the first three months.

Mr Nzeukwu’s appointment as an Acting Chief Judge is not the first without NJC’s recommendation or approval.

The NJC suspended Peter Agumagu in 2014, after he was appointed Chief Judge by the Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi at the time.

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Similarly, in 2018, Obisike Orji, who accepted to be sworn in as the acting Chief Judge of Abia State without NJC’s recommendation was forced to proceed on compulsory retirement by the council.

Drawing on lessons from history, a judge of the Osun State High Court, David Afolabi, rejected the appointment as the Acting Chief Judge of the state by Governor Ademola Adeleke, citing the Nigerian constitution and judicial precedents.

Mr Afolabi took a step further to communicate his decision not to accept the appointment to the NJC, the body statutorily empowered to play the central role in the appointment and discipline of Nigerian judges.