The National Judicial Council has voided the wanton appointment of Justice Theophilus Nzeukwu by Governor Hope Hope Uzodinma as acting Chief Judge of Imo State and asked the judge to within seven days show cause why he should not be sanctioned for offering himself for the position when he knew it was unmerited, in view of constitutional provisions.
The NJC also directed the Governor Uzodinma to immediately reverse the decision and appoint the most senior judicial officer in the state in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
It also took disciplinary measures against the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Imo State, Justice V. U. Okorie, who presided over the Judicial Service Commission meeting that recommended Justice Nzeukwu’s appointment.
Justice Okorie was likewise asked to also show cause within seven days “why disciplinary action should not be taken against him for his complicity in the recommendation.”
The decisions were part of the resolutions taken at the NJC’s 108th meeting held on April 29 and 30, 2025, under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
In a statement released by the Council’s Deputy Director of Information, Kemi Ogedengbe Babalola, the NJC “directed the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to appoint the most senior judicial officer in the state High Court’s hierarchy as the acting Chief Judge of the state in conformity with Section 271 (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
Citing the constitutional provision, the NJC said, “If the office of the Chief Judge of a state is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then, until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office, or until the person holding the office has resumed those functions, the governor shall appoint the most senior Judge of the High Court to perform those functions.”
Uzodinma had in April unilaterally tapped Mr Nzeukwu, who was the fourth on the hierarchy of the state’s High Court judges, to replace the former Chief Judge of the state, T. E. Chukwuemeka Chikeka, who was sent on compulsory retirement last November for alleged age falsification.
To add salt to injury, the appointment was made without the approval of the NJC, as required by law.
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