{"id":8673,"date":"2013-08-20T01:40:22","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T01:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/rivers-govt-officials-shun-cjs-valedictory-ceremonies\/"},"modified":"2013-08-20T01:40:22","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T01:40:22","slug":"rivers-govt-officials-shun-cjs-valedictory-ceremonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/rivers-govt-officials-shun-cjs-valedictory-ceremonies\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers govt officials shun CJ\u2019s valedictory ceremonies"},"content":{"rendered":"
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THE Rivers State government officials Monday shunned the valedictory ceremonies in honour of retiring Chief Judge, Justice Ichechi Nwenenda Ndu.<\/p>\n

   At the event, Justice Ndu noted that the judiciary is facing a perilous time ahead of 2015 and has urged judges to remain fearless.<\/p>\n

  Top state government officials, including Governor Chibuike Amaechi, his Deputy, Tele Ikuru, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms, Speaker of the House of Assembly and others were conspicuously absent at both the church service and court session held respectively in honour of the retiring CJ in Port Harcourt yesterday.<\/p>\n

   The absence of state officials might not be unconnected with the political crisis rocking the state since April and the politics of appointment of the acting Chief Judge, Justice Daisy Okocha.<\/p>\n

  During the valedictory court session held at the conference hall of the state judiciary, the moderator of the ceremony skipped the address that ought to have been delivered by the Attorney General and the goodwill message by Governor Amaechi. Both officials who were listed on the programme of event did not send representatives.<\/p>\n

  An official at the Government House in Port Harcourt told The Guardian that he was not sure if the judiciary had invited the government officials. <\/p>\n

   Those present at the ceremonies were the Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdulkadir, Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike and the Chief Judge of Anambra State. Others are representatives of the Chief Judges of Bayelsa, Delta, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Enugu and Cross River states.<\/p>\n

  Justice Ndu observed that ahead of 2015, the courts across the country are already inundated with political matters. Describing the times are perilous, he cautioned judges against granting ridiculous exparte motion which are aimed at an applicant springing surprises on a respondent.<\/p>\n

   He noted that the country has experienced 14 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, \u201cregrettably, the impunity of those in authority has continued to increase.\u201d He therefore urged judges to rise to the occasion and do justice to all especially the downtrodden who are likely victims of abuse of power.<\/p>\n

   Justice Ndu implored his colleagues to imbibe the spirit of judicial activism in a bid to curb the excesses and impunity of those in government, reminding them that courts are naturally not expected to do the bidding of those in power.<\/p>\n

   He lauded Amaechi for ensuring the independence of the judiciary and prompt release of financial allocations that enabled him to accomplish most of the capital projects executed during his 12-year reign.<\/p>\n

   On his part, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Okey Wali (SAN) said appointment of judges should be based on intellectual acumen and professional competence rather than political consideration, which is responsible for corruption of the justice system.<\/p>\n

  Wali lamented that judicial appointments are now getting politicised irrespective of the salient fact that the duties of judges are sacred and such should be insulated from political considerations. According to him, political inference in judicial appointments remains one of the reasons for corruption in the justice system.<\/p>\n

 He stressed that while corruption can be tolerated in, for instance, the executive arm of government, this social menace remains antithetical to judiciary which has the divine power of life and death.<\/p>\n

   He explained that it was in recognition of the fact that corruption has become a cankerworm in the judiciary that the NBA has decided to work in collaboration with the Chief Justice of Nigeria to rid both the Bench and the Bar of corrupt persons. According to him, about six lawyers have been debarred.<\/p>\n

   Speaking on behalf of the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), described judiciary as a stabilising factor in Nigeria. He noted that while other arms of government create a mess in the system, they have always expected the judiciary to clear it up.<\/p>\n

   He decried the seeming high handed of the Judicial Service Commission for recently suspending a judge without pay for one year.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: Guardian Newspaper<\/p>\n

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