By Adesina Soyooye
The embarrassing sack, on Friday, of the Acting President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Imo State, Hon Justice Francis Abosi, has been reduced to a bitter political issue in the state.
The National Judicial Council, NJC, had, on Friday, after its 91st meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, announced the immediate suspension from office, of Justice Abosi for age falsification. The Judge, the NJC said, falsified his year of birth from 1950 to 1958. The Council, recommended his compulsory retirement to the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, asking the Governor to deduct the salaries Abosi earned from 2015, when he ought to have been retired, to date.
Mr Soji Oye, NJC’s Director of Communications, announced Abosi’s fate in a press release.
Not a few Imolites are embarrassed by Abosi’s sack from the Judiciary. A top lawyer in the state told this magazine that Abosi was a good Judge, and added that he couldn’t understand why, and how, he got involved in the mess that got him into trouble.
“Somebody must have written a petition against him. And it must be from within the ranks of Their Lordships,” he offered in a depressing voice.
He regretted that all Justice Abosi’s years in the Judiciary ended this disgracefully.
But individuals in the ruling APC and the main opposition, PDP, are blaming two past Governors for the sad situation.
Problem started when an APC Chieftain, Hon Canice Ezenna, on his Facebook wall, blamed the immediate past Governor of the state, The Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, for appointing Abosi to the high profile office of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal. He gave the impression that Ihedioha did not do his homework well, otherwise, he could not have appointed him. He also accused the former Governor of vindictiveness for removing the former office holder, Hon Justice Anwuka, and appointing Abosi. He was, almost, celebrating Abosi’s fall.
But an avalanche of criticisms has followed his post, and especially, his allegation of vindictiveness against ihedioha. The blame is, instead, being laid at the former Governor Rochas Okorocha.
The question being asked is: “How was Ihedioha to know about the age falsification if it was not brought to his notice?
What Ihedioha did, it is being explained, was to correct an injustice.
He appointed the most senior Judge – Abosi – to the position. That is the unwritten law in the judiciary. The most senior Judge is appointed as head, unless there is any compelling reason not to do so.
The story is that Okorocha failed to do that. He failed to appoint Abosi, the most senior Judge, to the position. Instead, he appointed Abosi’s junior, Hon. Justice Anwuka, to the office.
Here, not a few people think, was why.
Both Okorocha and Anwuka are in-laws. The former Governor’s daughter is married to Justice Anwuka’s son.
Not a few, especially, in the Judiciary, felt that an injustice was done against Abosi by Okorocha. When Ihedioha took office, therefore, and the injustice was pointed out to him, all he did was to correct it by removing Anwuka, and appointing Abosi to the position.
Replying Hon. Ezenna, a PDP Chieftain, and Lawyer, Barr. GOC Ihejiagwa, asked him to not “politicize this ugly situation which has brought embarrassment to all of us in Imo State irrespective of party affiliation.”
Ihejiagwa explained that: “The Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha did not do anything wrong by appointing Justice Abosi Acting President of Imo State Customary Court of Appeal, and could not have known that Hon. Justice Abosi falsified his age and was due to have retired since 2015 going by the findings of NJC.
Driving the point home, he accused Ezenna of being economical with the truth.
He said to Ezenna:
“Contrary to your accusation that Rt. Hon. Emeka was vindictive by removing Hon. Justice Anwuka as Acting President of CCA, it was Rochas ( Okorocha)Â that caused the mess which Ihedioha only corrected.
“In the Judiciary, we honour seniority very jealously.
“The fact was that when the former President of CCA died, Justice Abosi was the most senior Judge, next in line. But because Prof. Anwuka (Justice Anwuka’s Husband, and former Minister of State, Education) was in the kitchen cabinet of Rochas, Rochas disregarded and abused the age long principle of seniority in the judiciary, and appointed Justice Anwuka the wife of Prof. Anwuka as acting President of CCA.
“Have you asked yourself why did Rochas not confirm Justice Anwuka as the substantive President of CCA despite that she acted for years before Rochas left as Governor?
“Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, upon assumption of office as Governor, merely corrected the anomaly and injustice by appointing Justice Abosi as proper acting President of CCA.
“It is very unfortunate that it turned out that Hon. Justice Abosi had skeleton in his cupboard by falsifying his age, but please don’t politicize against the Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha who restored sanity to the judiciary after the Rochas Holocaust on the entire judiciary.”
The buck now stops on the table of Governor Uzodinma to, hopefully, appoint the right Judge to the position.
