Imo criticises NJC’s directive to shortlist acting chief judge for substantive appointment

The Imo State Government has rejected the directive of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to include the state’s acting chief judge, Ijeoma Agugua, on its shortlist for substantive chief judge appointment.

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Punch newspaper reported that the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Paul Obinatu, criticised the NJC’s directive in a statement on Friday.

Mr Obinatu’s remarks, which pass as the state government’s stance on the matter, questioned what it described as NJC’s interference in the chief judge appointment process.

While Mr Obinatu acknowledged the NJC’s constitutional authority to review the state’s list of suitable candidates, he maintained that the council cannot “dictate, control or substitute its preferred candidate.”

The state government’s response to the NJC may be a signal for another stalemate which previously left the state’s judiciary practically without a leader for months.

Without the state government and the NJC agreeing on nominees’ list, it is impossible to renew the appointment of the acting chief judge and ultimately appoint a substantive chief judge for the state.

The NJC, at its latest meeting held on 3 November, ordered the Imo State Judicial Service Commission, the body with statutory authority to initiate the process of appointing judicial officers in the state, to include Ms Agugua on its shortlist for the substantive chief judge of the state.

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​Ms Agugua, whom Governor Hope Uzodimma reluctantly inaugurated as Imo State’s acting chief Judge following NJC’s intervention earlier this year, was excluded from the list of candidates the state’s judicial service committee submitted for full-fledged appointment as the chief judge.

​The NJC rejected Ms Agugua’s exclusion from the shortlist, insisting that skipping her name despite her being the most senior High Court judge in the state, was a violation of the appointment by seniority principle prescribed by the Nigerian constitution.

Imo’s objection to NJC’s directive

But Mr Obinatu argued that the NJC cannot dictate the names to be shortlisted for the role.

“The NJC’s constitutional responsibility to recommend a candidate to the governor does not confer on it the additional power to determine or dictate the candidate the State Judicial Service Commission must submit to it,” the attorney general said.

​He cited Section 202 of the Nigerian constitution, stating that the judicial service committee constitutionally shielded from external interference.

​“The State Judicial Service Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person in exercising its constitutionally assigned powers.

​“This provision establishes a clear constitutional safeguard against external interference in the commission’s responsibilities and cannot be overridden by the NJC through administrative directives or procedural guidelines,” he insisted.

​Mr Obinatu stressed that the NJC should not use its national status to interfere with the commission.

​“The NJC cannot invoke its national institutional status or its recommendation powers to exercise control over the Imo State JSC in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution,” he stated.

​Mr Obinatu advised the NJC to maintain institutional boundaries within the confines of the law.

​“The issue is not a contest for institutional superiority between the NJC and the State JSC, but the need for each institution to respect the constitutional boundaries of its authority,” he said.

​Persistent crisis

The attempt to fill the Imo chief judge position has been a major bone of contention between the NJC and Imo State authorities since former Chief Judge T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka was compulsorily retired over age falsification two years ago, in November 2024.

The NJC’s latest decision on the matter signalled the state government’s persistent disapproval of Ms Agugua for the position.

​Despite Ms Agugua being the most senior Imo State High Court judge, the state authorities passed over her to pick a lower-ranking judge to act as the chief judge.

​The controversial decision, which paralysed the state High Court for months, was criticised by the Nigerian Bar Association and rejected by the NJC for disregarding the seniority principle.

​In April 2025, the NJC roundly rejected the appointment of Theophilus Nzeukwu, who was the number four in the hierarchy of judges of the state, as acting chief judge.

​The NJC said Mr Nzeukwu’s appointment violated Section 271(4) of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates the governor to “appoint the most senior judge of the High Court” to temporarily perform the functions of the chief judge whenever the office becomes vacant.

​It also ordered that Mr Nzeukwu should be issued a query for accepting the appointment by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as the acting chief judge in violation of the constitution.

In June, about two months after rejecting Mr Nzeukwu’s appointment and issuing him a query, the NJC sent him on compulsory retirement for accepting to be sworn in for the acting chief judge role.

​The council also restated its stance, directing Governor Uzodimma to comply with its directive to swear in the state’s most senior judge.

​The governor had justified picking Mr Nzeukwu, which he said was based on “credible reports available to him at the time.”

​He said in a statement that reports submitted to him indicated Mr Nzeukwu was the “most senior judicial officer not encumbered by unresolved issues.”

​But the NJC stressed that the constitutional provision on acting appointments of state chief judges did not leave room for discretion.

ALSO READ: Supreme Court bench shrinks as NJC receives notices of deaths, retirements from various courts

​Mr Uzodimma subsequently agreed to comply with the directives of the NJC.

​But while the state government bowed to the NJC’s directive, it remained resolute in only allowing Ms Agugua to occupy the office in an acting capacity.

​Why NJC took latest decision on Imo chief judge position

​The NJC said it directed the Imo State Judicial Commission to include Ms Agugua’s name in the list of nominees for appointment as the substantive chief judge in the state, following a petition dated 11 June by Bob Kay Njemanze.

​It said Mr Njemanze’s petition challenged the exclusion of Ms Agugua from the shortlist submitted by the Judicial Service Commission.

​Imo judiciary at the centre of attention

The Imo State judiciary has been at the centre of attention for the wrong reasons for two years.

In November 2024, its then chief judge, Mr Chikeka, was sent on compulsory retirement over age falsification, setting off the leadership crisis that has dogged the state judiciary since then.

​In June last year, the NJC recommended Mr Nzeukwu for compulsory retirement for making himself available to be sworn in as the acting chief judge “knowing fully well that he was number four in the hierarchy of Judges of the Imo State Judiciary and contrary to Section 271 (4) of the Nigerian constitution.”

​At the same meeting, the council recommended the compulsory retirement of a set of nine judges of the Imo State High Court found to be culpable of age falsifications.

​But the council absolved the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Imo State, V. U. Okorie, who chaired the commission that nominated Mr Nzeukwu as the acting chief judge.

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