practitioner: Section 271(4) of d 1999 constitution,which is applicable here provides as follows" if d office of d chief judge of a state is vacant or if d person holding d office is for any reason unable to perform d functions of d office, then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the function of that office or until the person holdings d office has resumed those functions,the Governor of d state shall appoint the most senior judge of d High court to perform those functions".Going by d report, d Governor appointed d president of d customary court of appeal as d most senior judge, but d constitution provides that d appointee shall be d most senior judge of the HIGH COURT.Justice Agumagu not being a judge of d high court, is not qualified constitutionally for d appointment. To that extent,Governor Amechi got it wrong.

taharqa: That is it...

Whyte01: Politrick.aguma is nt d oldest o.is daisy okocha that suppose to be d new chief judge,wen wil people think about otherz intrest ah.amaechi u did nt do well in dis part all.i wil kp speaking d truth.haterz go nd die.amaechi is wrong.

practitioner: Section 271(4) of d 1999 constitution,which is applicable here provides as follows" if d office of d chief judge of a state is vacant or if d person holding d office is for any reason unable to perform d functions of d office, then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the function of that office or until the person holdings d office has resumed those functions,the Governor of d state shall appoint the most senior judge of d High court to perform those functions".Going by d report, d Governor appointed d president of d customary court of appeal as d most senior judge, but d constitution provides that d appointee shall be d most senior judge of the HIGH COURT.Justice Agumagu not being a judge of d high court, is not qualified constitutionally for d appointment. To that extent,Governor Amechi got it wrong.

4llerbuntu:





ARE YOU AWARE THAT IT IS THE [size=18pt]NATIONAL[/size] JUDICIAL COUNCIL THAT RECOMMENDS A CANDIDATE TO THE GOVERNOR AND THAT CHOICE IS RATIFIED BY THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY (NOW THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN RIVERS CASE)?
Section 281(1) Constitution 2004 FRN


are u also aware this man's name has been forwarded to the national assembly for ratification?


Are you aware of the qualifications prescribed the the Rivers State Laws for Customary Court Judges? Per s281(3)
You should be able to verify that the man does not qualify under that too before dishing out your "opinions"

I know some states specifically require the President of the Customary Court to be a High Court Judge at the time of appointment.


It may well be that this man is of the same cadre as the high court judges and probably got his earlier appointment because he was the most senior judge following the former CJ of the state.




So is this really a case of "Amaechi" choosing the wrong person??

PDP arselickers sha........ LEARNED IGNORANCE

spongeback: Ok.....am waiting for AHON to come and comment
"Amaechi Haters On Nairaland"

Lushgreen:

Is there any difference between the customary court and the high court?

eldoradoxx: It is not about Amechi Haters, but that Amechi Likers have failed to remove sentiment in looking at this issue critically. I am aware that in appointment of a Chief Judge of any court whether Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court or State High Cours the most singular important consideration is seniority. The most senior judge on the bench (not chronological age) is sworn in immediately either as substanive CJ or sworn in as Acting CJ when ever a vaccume exists in the position of Head of the particular court. This is so in other to insulate the appointment of CJ from political preference of the Governor or President. That is why 3 different bodies have hands in who becomes CJ. The most powerful being NJC. The Governor nominates the most senior judge wheher he likes the person or not (infact he is bound by the constitution to so do), NJC ratifies the nomination. And the House of Assembly in case of State CJ or Senate in case of Federal Court approve the appointment. Their approval is a matter of course. No body whose appointmentt has been ratified by NJC has ever rejected by theLegislaure. Thiis is due to the fact that a person who is worthy of being a judge cannot be said not to be worthy of heading the judiciary. In Amechi's case, the constitution says "The most senior judge of the HIGH COURT". Amechi himself alluded to this fact. Now tell me if the title "President of Customary Court of Appeal" of River state sounds the same as " Judge of the High Court Rivers state" ? Admitted, a judge of high Court of a state ranks equal with the president of customary court of Appeal in same way President of Court of Appeal ranks equal to a jusice of supreme court, but does the fact of their ranking make them the same.? President of Customary Court of Appeal is already the head of his own Court which is Customary Cour of Appeal and does not need to metamorphose into a High Court judge and to exercise the jurisdiction he has not. Every action he will take as a CJ of Rivers state would be null and void and ulra vires because there is surely a difference beween paracetamol and panadol evenhough they serve similar purpose. I definiely know that the NJC will rise up to this and protect the judiciary from poliical vultures. Justice Daisy Okocha remains the recognised CJ in waiting of Rivers state and I trust Justice Alomo Mariam Mukhtar CJN to deal ruthlessly with tha impostor tha was sworn in by Amechi. He would as well wave good bye to his career as a judge. I guess he must have been summoned to Abuja to be grilled by NJC. That is the beauty of the legal profession, you are checked by team of eminent collegues

4llerbuntu:





ARE YOU AWARE THAT IT IS THE [size=18pt]NATIONAL[/size] JUDICIAL COUNCIL THAT RECOMMENDS A CANDIDATE TO THE GOVERNOR AND THAT CHOICE IS RATIFIED BY THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY (NOW THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN RIVERS CASE)?
Section 281(1) Constitution 2004 FRN


are u also aware this man's name has been forwarded to the national assembly for ratification?


Are you aware of the qualifications prescribed the the Rivers State Laws for Customary Court Judges? Per s281(3)
You should be able to verify that the man does not qualify under that too before dishing out your "opinions"

I know some states specifically require the President of the Customary Court to be a High Court Judge at the time of appointment.


It may well be that this man is of the same cadre as the high court judges and probably got his earlier appointment because he was the most senior judge following the former CJ of the state.




So is this really a case of "Amaechi" choosing the wrong person??

PDP arselickers sha........ LEARNED IGNORANCE

4llerbuntu:





ARE YOU AWARE THAT IT IS THE [size=18pt]NATIONAL[/size] JUDICIAL COUNCIL THAT RECOMMENDS A CANDIDATE TO THE GOVERNOR AND THAT CHOICE IS RATIFIED BY THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY (NOW THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN RIVERS CASE)?
Section 281(1) Constitution 2004 FRN


are u also aware this man's name has been forwarded to the national assembly for ratification?


Are you aware of the qualifications prescribed the the Rivers State Laws for Customary Court Judges? Per s281(3)
You should be able to verify that the man does not qualify under that too before dishing out your "opinions"

I know some states specifically require the President of the Customary Court to be a High Court Judge at the time of appointment.


It may well be that this man is of the same cadre as the high court judges and probably got his earlier appointment because he was the most senior judge following the former CJ of the state.




So is this really a case of "Amaechi" choosing the wrong person??

PDP arselickers sha........ LEARNED IGNORANCE

Bensonite:
The retiring Chief Judge was not the oldest(most senior) at the time he was appointed. Against all criticism, Odili went ahead to appoint him leaving the most senior Justice Mrs Membere to her surprise. I think the laws have been amended allowing the NJC to make the recommendations based on seniority in the high court to the Governor after which the state assembly confirms the person. The major challenge now is the assembly is not sitting due to macing et al and the national assembly may take a longer time too when they do thereby creating a gap in the system. Since there cant be a gap, Amaechi seems to be taking advantage of a loophole in the law to appoint his favorite as interim.
Justice Agumagu is of the customary court of appeal which has alternate jurisdiction with the state high court so another argument may arise from there.

eldoradoxx: It is not about Amechi Haters, but that Amechi Likers have failed to remove sentiment in looking at this issue critically. I am aware that in appointment of a Chief Judge of any court whether Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court or State High Cours the most singular important consideration is seniority. The most senior judge on the bench (not chronological age) is sworn in immediately either as substanive CJ or sworn in as Acting CJ when ever a vaccume exists in the position of Head of the particular court. This is so in other to insulate the appointment of CJ from political preference of the Governor or President. That is why 3 different bodies have hands in who becomes CJ. The most powerful being NJC. The Governor nominates the most senior judge wheher he likes the person or not (infact he is bound by the constitution to so do), NJC ratifies the nomination. And the House of Assembly in case of State CJ or Senate in case of Federal Court approve the appointment. Their approval is a matter of course. No body whose appointmentt has been ratified by NJC has ever rejected by theLegislaure. Thiis is due to the fact that a person who is worthy of being a judge cannot be said not to be worthy of heading the judiciary. In Amechi's case, the constitution says "The most senior judge of the HIGH COURT". Amechi himself alluded to this fact. Now tell me if the title "President of Customary Court of Appeal" of River state sounds the same as " Judge of the High Court Rivers state" ? Admitted, a judge of high Court of a state ranks equal with the president of customary court of Appeal in same way President of Court of Appeal ranks equal to a jusice of supreme court, but does the fact of their ranking make them the same.? President of Customary Court of Appeal is already the head of his own Court which is Customary Cour of Appeal and does not need to metamorphose into a High Court judge and to exercise the jurisdiction he has not. Every action he will take as a CJ of Rivers state would be null and void and ulra vires because there is surely a difference beween paracetamol and panadol evenhough they serve similar purpose. I definiely know that the NJC will rise up to this and protect the judiciary from poliical vultures. Justice Daisy Okocha remains the recognised CJ in waiting of Rivers state and I trust Justice Alomo Mariam Mukhtar CJN to deal ruthlessly with tha impostor tha was sworn in by Amechi. He would as well wave good bye to his career as a judge. I guess he must have been summoned to Abuja to be grilled by NJC. That is the beauty of the legal profession, you are checked by team of eminent collegues

Demdem:

That Amaechis appointed judge is the most senior in rivers judiciary is not in doubt, the bone of contention is if the appeal customary court can be regarded as high court.
This is something the courts has to decide on. Kudos to Amaechi for bringing this issue to fore.

Demdem:

Both are under the same Rivers state Judiciary and Amaechi decided to choose the most senior Judge. If u have issues with this, go to court.
NJC simply made a recommendation and just like the way retardeen ignored their recommendation as regards salami recall, so also Amaechi decides to ignore this.

practitioner: I wil rather u say kudos to him for doing what is glaringly wrong.That provision is not ambiguous and does not even need d time of d court,which is very obvious to every unbiased person,which I doubt if u re one of them.

Lushgreen:

If your so-called "reterdeen" makes a bad call, does that give every citizen the freedom to make bad calls? Do you consider this enough justification and a legal precedence?

On your "go to court"statement: If someone comes to your house and rapes your wife, would you leave him to continue in the act while you run to court to seek redress?

Lushgreen: @Topic,

Can one person hold the position of a state CJ and Customary court President concurrently?

If not, who occupies the seat of the President of the Customary court of appeal for the three months of Agumagu's absence?

Does section 281 allow for a lacuna?

Larryfly: na my church man be that o! congrats sir! i will join you on sunday for thanksgiving. Corpus Christi......in Christ we are one!

practitioner: D issue of seniority is more of a convention than law.There is no provision in d constitution that makes it a criteria for d appointment of a substantive chief judge not even appointment of chief justice of Nigeria..Its only when appointing an acting that d issue of seniority comes in.Also, d NJC only recommends,but d appointment is done by d governor subject to confirmation by d house.

duality: If I don't hear form the NJC in 7 days about this issue, then It will be most unfortunate. Where are the civil societies of this country? they all have lost focus because if 2015 and GEJ.

$ugardaddy:

NBA and all legal luminaries say the appointment is in line with the 1999 constitution. So what are you ranting about?

REHOZIBAH:

After all said and done...I hope all the charge and bail lawyers would allow us rest

Like Demdem said I believe the principle of 'alternate jurisdiction' and 'lenght of appointment' rather than age-wise seniority informed the decision of Amaechi to appoint Agumagu

Demdem:

[b]There is nothing wrong in what he has done. Instead this act of his will open another chapter entirely in the Nigeria judicial system. Why should a court with alternate jurisdiction be looked upon "inferiorly"? Is it a curse that the most senior judge in the rivers state judiciary found himself in appellate customary. At a time when peeps are talking about removal of discrimination BTW hnd and Bsc, u are advocating for more discrimination for the judicial process. What encouragement will be for members of the bench to proceed to customary if no matter what they do or their number of years in office, they simply can't head the state judiciary.
Ur Myopic views is simply not making u see the bigger picture. Ur self acclaim un bias position is skrewed and of little value.
It's good for our jurisprudence if it determines if the appellate customary that has alternate jurisdiction with the high court can also be regarded as high court. Even if the judgement isn't in favour of this, I Desire a review of this part of the constitutional.
There shouldn't be any form of discrimination in the judiciary.[/b]

eldoradoxx: Some conventions have assumed the status of law that it becomes non-derogable. By practice, no junior has ever been appointed CJN or President of Court of Appeal or CJ of State or FHC over and above the most senior. NJC has its guideline and it is that it must nominate the most senior. The reason being that if the most senior is not disqualified from being a judge, then he is qualified to be head his court if he becomes the most senior. Yea, thanks for the correction, NJC actually recommends who becomes CJ and the Governor is bound to appoint whoever is recommended as he has no choice here. Except if there is a serious allegation that should disqualify a candidate from being a judge, the legislature must ratify. Seniority guides appointment of both substantive and acting heads of Court.

$ugardaddy:

NBA and all legal luminaries say the appointment is in line with the 1999 constitution. So what are you ranting about?