Victor EzejaChief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who had sworn on her inauguration on 31 August 2024 to mount a clean-up of the judiciary, seems to have lived up to her promise with four High Court judges receiving the hammer on Friday.
Prominent among them were Justices G. C Aguma and A.O Nwabunike, of the Rivers and Anambra State High Courts respectively, who were handed out suspension letters in which they were barred from performing any judiciary functions for one year, after which they would go into a watchlist for another two years.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelTheir punishment came from the National Judicial Council (NJC) the body for the reward and punishment of judicial officers in Nigeria for different offences considered to be at variance with the Code of Conduct for judges in Nigeria.
The two suspended justices of Rivers and Anambra high courts are among five judicial officers sanctioned for various acts of misconduct.
According to a statement by Kemi Babalola-Ogedengbe, spokesperson of NJC, the decisions were taken at the 107th Meeting of the NJC, which was chaired by Justice Kekere-Ekun, on 13 and 14 November 2024.
The Council recommended the compulsory retirement of two Heads of Court over falsification of age. The duo are Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka and the Grand Kadi of Yobe State, Kadi Babagana Mahdi.
The NJC mandated them to refund all salaries and allowances received since when their retirement was due. While Justice Chikeka is to refund salaries and allowances received for three years, that of Mahdi will be for 12 years.
According to the Council’s findings, Justice Aguma engaged in misconduct by assisting a litigant who filed a garnishee against judgment debtors in the Bori Division of the High Court in Rivers State and got a judgment at the FCT High Court in Abuja.
The council asserts that the probe also showed that he failed to enquire as to why the garnishee proceedings were filed to his Bori court in order to obtain a judgment that could be successfully enforced in Abuja. The certificate of judgment was registered at the Bori Division of the High Court of Rivers State on 16 July 2020, while the judgment was delivered at the FCT High Court on 15 July 15, 2020.
The Council concluded that Justice Aguma’s quick decision to issue the order absolute against the judgment debtors reflected his interest, particularly since he neglected to take into account the stay of execution of the Bwari High Court’s judgment in favour of the judgment debtors that had been brought to his attention.
For Justice Nwabunike of Anambra State, the Council held that he violated Rule 3.1 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 2016 Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers.
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According to the statement, the Council equally reviewed the Report of its Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee, which considered a total number of 30 petitions, empanelled sixCommittees for further investigation. It added that while 22 petitions were dismissed for lacking in merit, two were sub judice.
The Council also issued a letter of caution to Hon. Justice I. A. Jamil of Kogi State to be careful in handling sensitive matters in the future.
The cases that were dismissed include one against the Court of Appeal, four against Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which pertains to Rivers State, and another plea against Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
In addition, the council rejected petitions against Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam, Justice Kabir Dabo, and Justice Comfort C. Ani of the Enugu State High Court on the grounds that they were unworthy.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
