CJ Swears In 25 New Court Of Appeal Judges

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Mukhtar has warned the 25 new judges sworn into office as Court of Appeal Judges, to maintain true allegiance to their judicial oaths and abide by the demands of the code of conduct for judicial officers.

Speaking yesterday, during the swearing in ceremony of the judges at the Supreme Court, Justice Mukhtar stressed that, “judiciary will not tolerate acts of misconduct and disloyalty from judges, and so, I urge you to maintain true allegiance to your judicial oaths and abide by the demands of the code of conduct for judicial officers.”

The CJN added that they should understand that, “there is no middle ground and no room on the bench for those found to be contemptible arbiters of truth.”

“There shall be zero tolerance to judicial corruption and misconduct in the Nigerian judiciary,” she cautioned.

Justice Mukhtar reminded the newly elevated judges that “as judicial officers, you will soon be presiding over election cases etc, therefore, as judges you must be politically neutral and rise up to safeguard our democracy, and ensure the rights of litigants and the tenets of justice are upheld and help to dispense justice for the purpose of safeguarding and protecting our constitution.”

“It is necessary to note that our task in our society is demanding and inexorable. Your judgments and ruling will be tried by public opinion, and you will face criticism from electronic and print media, I urge you to persevere and remain firm in fulfilling your duties” the CJN stated.

Meanwhile, a flurry of activities and series of meeting by the top echelon of the nation’s judiciary since last week are expected to culminate this week in the fixing of a date for an emergency meeting over the controversial emergence of Justice Peter Agumagu as the Chief Judge of Rivers State.

Despite the directive of the National Judicial Council (NJC) that no judge in the jurisdiction should accept acting appointment from Governor Rotimi Amaechi, following his rejection of council-nominee; Justice Daisy Okocha, Agumagu accepted Amaechi’s offer as the substantive CJ.

The constitutional requirement that the council must nominate a CJ-designate was side-stepped by Amaechi and Agumagu.

Chairman of the council and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar came out smoking on Monday, vowing that the judiciary would not tolerate disloyalty from judges.

She spoke at the swearing-in ceremony of 25 newly-appointed justices of the Court of Appeal in Abuja.