Daily Independent Online.
*
Thursday, July 08, 2004.
Anambra judiciary as hotbed of crisis
Okey Maduforo, Correspondent
(Awka), writes that the crisis in the Anambra State judiciary, generated
by multiple allegations against the Chief Judge, may still linger awhile.
It
was February 3, 2004, at the premises of the Anambra State High Court, Awka.
The Chief Judge (CJ) of the State, Justice C.J. Okoli, had just arrived, along
with several other legal luminaries and the then Anambra State Police
Commissioner, Mr. Donald Iroham. They had come to celebrate the 2004 legal
year. But all of a sudden trouble started. An intimidating crowd converged
chanting war songs. Clearly they were determined to stop the occasion. Waving
placards and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) flag, the crowd who turned out
to be protesters took over the high court premises to the chagrin of the
dignitaries.
The Court Registrars and Allied Staff
Association of Nigeria (CRASAN) have been having a running battle with the CJ
over what they describe as the draconian Judicial Service Commission Regulation
(JSC) of 2003. In a newsletter they made available to newsmen on that day, the association
said that it had reviewed the responses to its demands as contained in its
memorandum to the Governor of the State, Dr. Chris Ngige, dated October 17,
2003 and that there was overwhelming evidence which shows that Okoli’s
position as CJ for 19 months now, is in clear breach of section 29(2) of the
1999 Constitution. Continuing, the association recalled that it had demanded
for the repeal of the aforementioned Regulation; the dissolution of the Anambra
State Judicial Service Commission for incompetence, and its reconstitution with
competent hands as well as the resignation or removal of the CJ for his breach
of the judicial oath, the oath of allegiance and by implication the code of
conduct for judicial officers.
Unfortunately, the association noted,
“while staff matters are stock-piling in the cooler owing to want of
proper administrative machinery in the state judiciary, the Chief Judge is, in
spite of the compelling and yet to be investigated allegations against him,
being allowed by those who should know better to discharge the functions of the
Chief Judge. Today every machinery is in top gear to give credence to the
celebration of the legal year of the state judiciary.”
The association further warned the
Anambra State Government, the National Judicial Council and the security
agencies in the state that neither CRASAN nor any staff of the state judiciary
should be held liable for whatever results from allowing the CJ to officiate
the legal year ceremonies in Anambra State on Monday, February 9, 2004.
And on that day, the protesters
demonstrated seriousness of purpose. They took on security operatives and hell
was let loose. They were tear-gassed and some of them (workers) had bruises
from the team of policemen who came to quell the protest. But the CJ escaped
unhurt.
The battle against Justice Okoli dates
back to 2002 when judiciary workers joined other civil servants in the state in
an industrial action that lasted for months. Arrears of salaries were owed by
the then regime of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. In fact, it was that crisis
that brought the late Onitsha branch chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA), Mr. Barnabas Igwe and Mbadinuju on warpath. However, the crisis could
not be resolved as Igwe was eventually murdered by unknown persons. The murder
trial is still pending at the Aguata High Court, Ekwulobia, Anambra State.
At the inception of Ngige’s
administration last year, the judicial workers were still on strike. But
following the intervention of the governor, and NLC chairman in the state,
Comrade Charles Onyeagba, the strike was suspended and the workers resumed
work.
Meanwhile, in a meeting of the workers,
the events of February were reviewed, as well as other related matters like
their position on the letter of March 12, 2004, by the Secretary to the State
Government to the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, entitled:
“Strike action by members of Court Registrars and Allied Staff
Association of Nigeria”, which was to the effect that judiciary workers
would not be paid the March 2004 salary. At the end of the meeting, the workers
resolved that: “Having studied the letter aforesaid and held that given
the application of the weapon of starvation, [CRASAN] is now convinced beyond
all reasonable doubt that the state government can go to any length to
blackmail the judiciary workers for insisting, among other things, that the
Chief Judge who is…mercilessly brutalising the 1999 Constitution of
Nigeria and the law of Anambra State, be removed for breach of judicial oath
and oath of Allegiance, CRASAN remains unflinching in its commitment to its
demands as shown in CRASAN memo of October 17, 2003 to the executive governor
of Anambra State.”
The group also accused the state
government of shielding Justice Okoli and not taking any steps to set proper
machinery in motion to investigate its allegations, adding that government was
attempting to muscle the judiciary workers with its press propaganda. The
association then called on workers to prepare for another locust session if
starvation was what it would take to defend their memo of October 17, 2003 and
secure the full implementation of the State Judiciary (Self-Accounting) Cap 136
Laws of Anambra Sate 1991.
NLC is in solidarity with CRASAN. In a
letter to the Chief Registrar of Anambra State Judiciary, secretary of the
congress, Mr. Ositadimma Edozie, said: “Be informed that the Hon. Chief
Judge in his capacity as the chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)
of the state has gone ahead to implement the obnoxious Anambra Judicial Service
Commission Regulations 2003 without regard to the memorandum written by the
staff of the judiciary to His Excellency, the executive governor, No.
CRASAN/AS/IV/01 dated October 17, 2003 and our endorsement in that respect to
him, No. CRASAN/AS/IV/59 of November 4, 2003.” He alleged that the judge
had also failed to implement vital parts of the labour-government agreement of
October 28, 2004 as they affect the state judiciary. “In view of the
foregoing and in furtherance of the resolution of our members, the staff of the
state judiciary have decided to resume the suspended indefinite strike action
with effect from Monday, November 10, 2003,” he said.
The strike yielded dividend as the state
government, represented by the SSG, Alex Chukwurah; the Head of Service, Mrs.
Elsie Ikemefuna, and the Attorney General of the State, Chief Udechukwu Nnoluka,
SAN, reached an agreement with CRASAN and the NLC in the state that, (a) The
controversial Judicial Service Regulations 2003 is suspended, (b) That the
on-going reconstitution of the Judicial Service Commission is noted and
appreciated and when reconstituted, the Judicial Service Commission shall
revisit all outstanding administrative and other problems including the issue
of unreleased senior staff promotion of 2002 and 2003. They however agreed that
the issue of the position of the CJ would be left for the appropriate bodies to
look into and handle.
But the Onitsha branch of the NBA
insisted that Okoli must go. According to a communiqué that was made
public shortly after its meeting on March 24, 2004 at the instance of P.O.
Balonwu, SAN, and signed by its Chairman, Mr. Chuka Obele Chuka, and Balonwu
himself, “The Onitsha Bar reiterates its demand for the removal of the
three judges indicted by the Hon. Justice C.E.K. Anigbogu for violating their
oath of office, and the removal of the Chief Judge and Hon. Justice Nri-ezedi
on a further ground of having attained the statutory age of 65 years.”
It also called on the National Judicial
Council to take immediate steps to ensure that discipline is restored in the
state judiciary by taking the appropriate steps for the removal of those found
to have attained the statutory age of retirement, as well as those indicted for
misconduct, adding that it does not want to believe that the CJ is above the
law.
The crisis however found its way to the
state House of Assembly when the state government appeared to be dragging its
feet on the matter. In a letter to the speaker of the House, Mr. Mike Balonwu,
CRASAN stated that instead of the CJ tackling staff welfare problems for which
paragraph 12 of the agreement signed by the governor and himself provided for,
he had made efforts through the new JSC Regulations 2003 to mask the
“enduring illegalities.” The letter stated that it wasn’t
until the workers went on a four-day strike did the government set up a
committee headed by the SSG to look into the grievances of the judicial
workers.
According to the president of the
association, Mr. Basil Mbanefo, the association prayed the legislature to
compel the government to release the March 2004 salary of non-judicial officers
of the state judiciary; to also dissolve the JSC and reject the nominees
already cleared for appointment to the JSC on the grounds alleged earlier,
among others.
It may be recalled that the lawmakers
had earlier in a resolution, called for the partial dissolution of the state
JSC at the peak of the industrial action. The speaker, Balonwu, had on behalf
of the legislators expressed their readiness to ensure that justice was done,
noting that peaceful resolution of the crisis was the only way out, instead of
violence. However, while the lawmakers were being awaited to act, Mbanefo and
his CRASAN started shouting. They alleged that agreements had been concluded by
the CJ to further victimise the administrative staff of the state judiciary. In
a letter to Governor Ngige through the chairman of NLC in the state, Mbanefo
alleged that there was a plot to use the JSC to transfer some magistrates from
the magisterial cadre to the administrative cadre, contrary to the scheme of
service, in order to victimise the hated administrative officers, adding that
some practising lawyers had been slated for use, in case the magistrates were
insufficient for the planned shake-up.
The committee set up by government to
study the new JSC Regulations 2003, however, appeared to have justified the
alarm raised by Mbanefo. In its findings, it stated that the commission
regulation appear to have been drawn up without reference to the rules
governing the public service of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, adding that
neither the public service rules of the federation nor the civil service rules,
circulars and financial regulations of Anambra State were respected by the new
regulations. “It is therefore not in the overall interest of the staff of
the judicial service who hope to work and retire like their colleagues
everywhere in the federation. In taking this stand, the committee had in full
view the fact that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides
for the public service of a state to include, member or staff of any commission
or authority established for the state by this constitution or by a law of a
House of Assembly.”
The committee argued that the
Constitution did not recommend judicial service regulations that are contrary
to the regulations available in the public services of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. “Rather the committee is recommending that the judicial service
regulations of Anambra State should be drawn up to reflect the provisions of
the extant public service rules, and that financial regulations 2003 be
revisited generally to respect the public service rules of Anambra State and
the Federal Republic of Nigeria in general.”
Meanwhile, not a few observers of
developments in the Anambra State judiciary are of the view that the state
government is handling the lingering crisis with kid gloves. The National
Judicial Council has also been accused of being indifferent to the crisis, just
as the CJ has not bothered to respond to the numerous allegations levelled
against him.
