Court Orders Status Quo In Abia State Judges’ Appointment Amid Unresolved Litigations

Recall that the appointment of judges in the state has been enmeshed in unresolved litigations since 2022, following a suit filed against the National Judicial Council, the state Chief Judge and the state Attorney-General.

However, while the case has remained unresolved, another process for the appointment of judges in the state was initiated last year, 2024.

Dissatisfied by the development, Uzoamaka Uche-Ikonne and Victoria Okey-Nwokeukwu, approached the court seeking an order to stop the process until all the cases concerning the process are determined by the court.

The duo, through their attorney, O.O. Nkume argued that the 2024 process of appointment of judges in the state amounted to resorting to self-help and a flagrant disregard to due process of law in the face of the pending lawsuits in court.

The plaintiffs said all the chairmen of the Nigeria Bar Association branches in Abia State who are parties to the pending suit No FHC/UM/CS/2024 are disallowed by law from taking any step or commenting on the suitability of the shortlisted candidates during the pendency of litigation over the 2024 process of appointment of judges of Abia State in suit pending at the Federal High Court, Umuahia.

The petitioners stated that the shortlisting of the candidates in a letter dated March 12, 2025, with Ref. JSC/S 83/11/176 by the Abia State Judicial Service Commission was not only made in a matter sub-judice but after the service of suit number FHC/UM/CS 82/2024 of the pending motion for interlocutory injunction restraining the Abia State Judicial Service Commission from continuing or taking any further steps in the 2024 appointment of judges during the pendency of the suit.

The petitioners stated, “That having regard to the operation of the rule of law, it is disrespectful and contemptuous of the judicial process of the court for you to take the law into your hand by resorting to self-help over the subject matter of suit No FHC/UM CS/ 82/2024 pending at the Federal High Court Umuahia, by going ahead to shortlist names of candidates for appointment as judges shown in your letter dated March 12 2025.

“That by the subsisting policy of the National Judicial Council, the 2024 process of appointment is already put on hold because of the pendency of suit No FHC/UM CS/ 82/2024 in which the NJC is a party thereto, and as such the purported names of the shortlisted candidates made pendent-lite cannot be countenanced during the litigation and even after the litigation.

“That the above legal positions, which lend credence to the aforesaid National Judicial Council policy and yield to the invalidity of the shortlisted candidates and any comments on their suitability made during pending litigation are well spelt out in the cases of Abiodun vs CJ Kwara State (2007) 18NWLR (PT1065)109 at pages115 to 118 and INEC vs Youth Party (2003) 7NWLR (PT1833) 249 at pages 260 to 263.”

The petitioners also warned that they will not hesitate to commence committal proceedings for contempt of court against all members of the Abia State Judicial Service Commission and any of the parties to the pending suit No FHC/UMCS/82/2024 for the above-complained contemptuous acts or any further contemptuous steps taken over the subject matter of 2024 process of appointment of judges of Abia State.

Meanwhile, legal practitioners in the state are worried over the delay in the appointment of judges, which is frustrating justice delivery in the state.

A lawyer who craved anonymity said the High Courts have fewer judges, adding that what has been sustaining the state judiciary is the extension of the retirement age of judges.

He said, “There are many awaiting trial cases with suspects languishing in the correctional centres without trials. The situation has worsened because retiring judges in the state cannot be replaced.”