ACTING governor of Kogi State, Hon.
Clarence Olafemi, yesterday reinstated the sacked Chief Judge (CJ) of the
state, Justice Umaru Eri.
His reinstatement is with immediate
effect.
The action was sequel to the 48-hour
ultimatum given the government by the state branch of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA), to reinstate the CJ or face a boycott of courts by its
members.
Its chairman, Mr. Alfred Akpala who
handed down the ultimatum at a news conference in Lokoja Wednesday, said
that Justice Eri’s removal was unconstitutional, null and void.
But In a statement signed by the chief
press secretary to the governor, Mr. Richard Elesho, Hon. Clarence said the
reinstatement was as a result of the intervention of the governor-elect,
Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.
It would be recalled that the acting
governor last Tuesday acting under section 292 (a) (II) of the 1999
constitution assented to a letter by the Kogi State House of Assembly,
requesting for the removal of Justice Eri.
Reacting, the Action Congress (AC)
condemned the removal describing it as an abuse of legislative power and
tyranny of the executive.
Daily Champion recalls that 16 out of
the 28 members of the State House of Assembly had Tuesday passed a
resolution for the state acting governor, Clarence Olafemi to remove Justice
Eri over alleged fraud.
In a swift reaction, Olafemi announced
the appointment of Justice Sam Ota as the state acting Chief Judge.
Rejecting the appointment, the NBA
said failure by the governor to reverse it will force the bar to embark on
total boycott of court sessions from Monday, April 7, 2008.
Mr. Akpala gave the warning at the end
of the enlarged executive council meeting of the association consisting of
Okene, Lokoja and Idah branches in Lokoja.
He said that the House of Assembly
through its resolution disobeyed a Koton-Karfe High Court order restraining
the House from investigating the activities of the Chief Judge, adding that,
" the removal of the Chief Judge is not in compliance with the provision of
the law which stated that any case before a law court should not be debated
upon until the final determination of the suit".
Akpala also urged lawyers in the state
to co-operate with the decision of the NBA in the task ahead, stressing
that, "the bar cannot fold its hands and allow the state government to throw
the rule of law into the dustbin because the rule of law is the strong
pillar of democracy".
He therefore appealed to judges in the
State Judiciary not to accept the position of an acting Chief Judge, adding
that for now there is no vacancy for the position of Chief Judge until
Justice Eri retired in June this year.
"That the allegation of misconduct
levelled against the Chief Judge not having been investigated and
established and the Hon. Chief Judge not having been given the opportunity
to defend himself cannot form the basis for his removal from office."
He warned that any Judge who accepts
the position of the state acting Chief Judge will be regarded as an enemy of
the bar.
