|
Nnamani defies Judicial
Council, swears in new CJ
By Chukwudi
Achife
Bureau
Chief,
Enugu
In a move that apparentlty
defied the National Judicial Council, (NJC) Governor Chimaroke Nnamani of
Enugu State on Tuesday swore in Justice Innocent Umezurike as the new
Chief Judge of the state following the retirement of his predecessor
Justice JCN Ugwu who retired December 13.
The NJC had voted 26 to 0 in
favour of Umezurike's rival Justice Raphael Agbo to over turn the
recommendation of the State Judicial Service Commisison which had voted 2-1 in favour of
the new Chief Judge.
At the swearing in ceremony
held at the government house Enugu, Nnamani maintained that due process
had been followed in the appointment of the new judge adding that the
controversy that had trailed it was unnecessary.
He said the Justice
Umuzurike's appoinmtent followed the recommendation of the State Judical
Service Commision which was subsequently confirmed by the State House of
Assembly stressing that allegations that the state government had
influenced the appointment was therefore unfounded.
"We have full confidence in
the candidate selected by the state Judicial Service Commission and
confirmed by the Enugu House of Assembly and we have full confidence in
the candidate appointed by the governor of Enugu
State.
And we would tell Nigerians
today that we have no apology for it and by the Grace of God, Justic
Umezerike has become the Chief Judge of Enugu State. We shall work with
him and he shall work with us and we shall work based on mutual respect
and based on friendship, understanding, and guaranteed independence of the
Judiciary."
He described Justice Umezurike
as a consumate professional and intellectual on the bench adding that it
was a thing of joy that a man of his background was now leading the
judiciary in Enugu state.
He further argued that the
fact that the government had won some of the cases handled by new Chief
Judge in the past did not make him a pro-government Judge as claimed by
critics adding "if those panels (headed by Umezurike) did not find
government guilty or exonerated government, should they have found
government guilty if it was not guilty"?
In his speech the new Chief
Judge, promised that he would meet the expectations of the governemnt and
people of the state and would elevate the state judiciary to higher
grounds while maintaining its independence."I will maintain the
independence of the judiciary but I will not abandon the fidelity to and
the compartmentality of the government", he said
| 
