http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/the-rivers-judiciary-crisis-tale-of.html
It is no news that all courts in Rivers state have been under lock and key since June 2014. Lawyers and Judges are out of job, cases are piling up and people cannot get justice which is their fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1999 constitution. Like the proverbial suffering grass and the fighting elephants, the two major characters in this drama; The National Judicial Council (NJC) and Governor Rotimi Amaechi seem not to want to shift grounds while the judiciary in the state lingers in limbo.

Before I continue it may interest you to know the rest of the cast in this interesting story. I have already mentioned the star actors: The NJC and Governor Amaechi. Others are: Justice Peter Agumagu, Justice Daisy Okocha, Hon. Justice Lambo Akambi, The State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Rivers State House of Assembly. Now that you have seen the personalities involved in the imbroglio, I shall proceed to give us a little background of the crisis.

Since Rivers State was created from the defunct Eastern Region in 1967, the seniority criterion had been adhered to strictly in the appointment of Chief Justices (CJs). Hon. Justice (Sir) Michael H.F Holden, a British, was the pioneer CJ by virtue of his being the highest ranking judge at the time. After he retired in 1976 and went back to the U.K, he was succeeded by Justice Ambrose Alagoa (1978-79), Hon. Justice Donald Graham Douglas (1979-1992). But the seniority criteria was tampered with when Douglas on his exit, favoured the appointment of Justice K.D Ungbuku in 1992 instead of Justice F.N Ichoku who was the most senior then. Justice was however served when in 1996, Bayelsa State was carved out of Rivers. As a result Ungbuku being a Bayelsan went on to become pioneer CJ in the state, leading to the return of Justice Ichoku as CJ from 1996 to 2001. Justice Ndu replaced Ichoku in 2001 under controversial circumstances as he was not the most senior at the time but he was left to continue because of his magnanimity and humility. When he finally retired in 2014, Governor Amaechi being a lawyer himself, sought to restore the seniority criterion by appointing Justice Agumagu as CJ. This was the beginning of problems to come.

But what does our constitution say about the appointment of a substantive Chief Judge of a State? Section 271(1), item 21(c) of Part I to the Third Schedule and item 6(a) of Part II to the Third Schedule of the Constitution provides the answers. The said provisions respectively go thus:

271(1) ‘The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Judge of a State shall be made by the Governor of the State on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council subject to the confirmation of the appointment by the House of Assembly of the State.’
21(c ). ‘The National Judicial Council shall have power to recommend to the Governors from among the list of persons submitted to it by the State Judicial Service Commission persons for appointment to the offices of the Chief Judges of the States…’
6(a) (i) The Commission (State Judicial Service Commission) shall have power to advise the National Judicial Council on suitable persons for nomination to the office of the Chief Judge of the State’

From the above we can comfortably summarize that to appoint a CJ, the State JSC has to first advise the NJC with names of possible candidates for the position based on their local knowledge . Then the NJC will choose one and recommend same to the Governor who in return forwards the name to the House of Assembly who confirms him. End of story. But was that the case in Rivers? We shall see in the next paragraph.

Following the appointment of Justice Agumagu without input from the NJC, a group called the Kengena Unity Forum challenged the appointment in a Federal High court presided over by Hon. Justice Lambo Akanbi. The judge ruled that Justice Agumagu was not qualified to be appointed acting CJ of Rivers state by virtue of his not being a State High Court Judge at the time of his appointment. Justice Akanbi must have based his decision on section 271(4) of the constitution which states that the most senior Judge of the High court should be appointed as acting CJ. Some lawyers who I interacted with explained that since Agumagu at the time of his appointment was the head of the Customary Court of Appeal (CCA) while Justice Daisy Okocha was the most senior judge of the High Court. Following Akanbi's ruling Governor Amaechi filed another suit before the same judge, questioning the power of the NJC to force a recommendation on the State Government. Justice Akanbi this time ruled as follows: "I cannot allow the argument of the defence counsel, that the governor must accept the recommendation of the NJC. The body that is most suitable to make recommendation of a nominee of a chief judge of the state is the state Judicial Service Commission (JSC), because they have local knowledge of the most suitable candidate, than the National Judicial Council.” “What the constitution recommends is 10 years of legal practice and we are in a dynamic world. And so, the issue of most senior judge can no longer be the only criteria of appointing someone to such an important and exalted position.” Irked by this Judgement, the NJC moved to suspend Justice Agumagu making it clear that it will not recognise him as the CJ. It went further to issue him a querry asking him why he should not be punished for violating his judicial oath. Justice Agumagu in reaction, approached a Federal High Court challenging NJC’s decision to suspend him and praying the court to restrain members of an investigation panel set up to investigate the allegations against him from taking any further steps in respect of his case until the determination of the suit he filed. The stage had thus been set for the stand-off.

A critical look at the developments above will reveal certain flaws which I will point out from a layman's view as I am not a Lawyer. First of all the NJC erred in wielding the big stick on Justice Agumagu. If they were displeased with the ruling of a federal high court Judge, the right thing to do in my opinion was to file a counter suit in another court. Till a contrary ruling is obtained, the NJC, a revered body of eminent judges, would have maintained the status quo and not go on to illegally suspend Agumagu, an act similar to that of our lawless politicians. That they are the NJC does not mean they are above the law. Secondly Governor Rotimi Amaechi violated section 271 of the constitution by not carrying the NJC along in appointing Agumagu. All things being equal, his action in the eyes of the law can be said to be make the appointment null and void. If he wants the state to appoint the CJ without the NJC's input then he should seek amendment of the constitution from the national assembly. Thirdly, some legal luminaries have argued that the State High Court and Customary Court of Appeal are both high courts and therefore Justice Akambi was wrong in disqualifying Agumagu earlier on grounds of not being a member of the high court. I agree with them totally.

Conclusion: We call upon all parties in this dispute to sheathe their swords and in the spirit of the new year find an amicable solution to this impasse. I would recommend an out of court settlement. Several years ago, the Enugu State House of Assembly rejected Justice Agbo recommended by the NJC and instead preferred Justice Umezulike. The then NJC chairman Justice Uwais intervened and settled the matter amicably with Umezulike finally appointed. The present NJC in my opinion should tow this reconciliatory path. Governor Amaechi should also learn to bury his ego and reach a common ground with the NJC. Since Justice Agumagu is 4years senior to Justice Daisy Okocha and is due to retire in December 2015, he should be allowed to become CJ for some months after whicj Justice Okocha who herself is due for retirement in January 2016 should occupy the office till her retirement. That way justice will be served both ways. Lastly. the house committee on Justice should move swiftly to amend the relevant section of the constitution affecting the appointment of Chief Justices in order to avoid another crisis similar to what we have in Rivers state presently.

(Culled from: http://ndibenonso..com/2015/01/the-rivers-judiciary-crisis-tale-of.html)

"Progressively" speaking, the Judiciary, the NJC, the River's State Judges and Lawyers and in fact all the Rivers People, can go and die!

Ameachi headache are quite numerous, I think does everything wrongly

The NJC should have acted wisely, now everything is in limbo.

NJC thinks they can change the rules of d game d middle of the game. because it involves governor Amaechi. we all saw how Mr president illegally dismissed justice Ago salami, the Appeal court President even against public outcry and NJC findings. we all witnessed how T. A Orji used an acting chief judge in Abia state for over 2 yes b4 appointing a substantive chief judge.. well, they have tried their powers against governor Amaechi and see that he is not someone they can bend so easily. Daisy okocha will not be d chief of rivers state in Amaechi's govt. case closed.