The Cankerworm that is Destroying Nigerian Judiciary: The Akwa Ibom Example
By Akanimo Sampson
Akwa Ibom State Judiciary, the third arm of government in Nigeria’s governance system is currently rotting away with a putrefying stench oozing out of the chambers of the Chief Judge of the state.
Senior lawyers in the state are already expressing serious concerns about the state of affairs in that arm of government under the watch of Justice Ekaete Fabian Obot.
Some of the judicial officers who spoke in confidence to this reporter are saying that only Abuja can save the state judiciary from total collapse.
Some others are hitting hard on the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel, insinuating that the outgoing governor is complicit in whatever is happening in the judiciary.
The Udom administration has not been quite popular of late over its handling of the 13 percent oil derivation fund which the Buhari administration is said to have released N186 billion so far to the state.
There is growing anger in the state over unpaid piling pension, gratuity, leave grants and sundry benefits to workers in the state.
Even a greater majority of councillors in the state are not speaking glowingly about the Udom administration as the unemployment situation in all the electoral constituencies in the state has become nightmarish.
Amid all these, the head of the judiciary has gone ahead to compound matters for the Udom administration by daringly appointing her junior lawyer Son into Grade Level 15 ahead of senior colleagues who have been on the Bench for more than seven years.
The chief judge is being accused of crippling the judiciary staff union, nepotism and favouritism.
Sources say the emergence of Obot as the chief judge was seen as a breath of fresh air, especially after the dracoanian administration of her predecessor in office who allegedly ran the Judiciary as a personal fiefdom, alienating staff of the judiciary, the Bar and even his brother judges from the administration of the Judiciary.
“The circumstance which led to her final confirmation as Chief Judge by the National Judicial Council and subsequent swearing in, was one riddled with intrigues, blackmail and horse trading and according to an observer; Obot J. fought the battle of her life to emerge as Chief Judge and is expected to give her best and live above board”, an aggrieved lawyer says.
Arguably, if many expected the Chief Judge to bring her best to bear in the administration of justice and the judiciary in the state, they must be shaking their heads in total disappointment with the reign of impunity that is allegedly bedeviling the administration of Ekaete Fabian Obot as Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom.
Nepotism, ineptitude, blackmail and personal vendetta reigns supreme in Akwa Ibom Judiciary, turning it to a cesspool of corruption.
According to an informed staff of the Judiciary, who pleaded anonymity, Mrs. Obot has allegedly embarked on a war of terrorizing perceived staff she believes were close to her predecessor by employing punitive deployment as a tool.
Immediately she took over office, she allegedly ensured competent staff of the Judiciary were deployed to out station while bringing in her loyalists, who most times are not allegedly competent to carry on the duties required by their new offices.
Another obviously bitter senior lawyer in the state had this to say of the chief judge, “she forcefully transferred her brother judge, Charles Ikpe J. who would have been the administrative judge from Uyo Judicial Division to Ikot Ekpene and ensured that the Ikot Ekpene High Court complex is denied every facility that will make the administration of justice comfortable for the judges and litigants.”
Lawyers practicing in Uyo judicial division are said to be having the most harrowing experience in practice,since Justice Obot reign began.
“It is so because she wants to be seen to work alone, processes filed in the judicial division are unnecessarily delayed for up to five weeks, before they are assigned to courts”, a lawyer said.
From all indications, applications for bail, fundamental rights matters appear to be the worst hit by the seeming lackluster administration of Ekaete Obot, who instead of assigning the most senior judge in the division the duty of assigning new cases as was done in the past, insist on combining this with her other tasking duties as Chief Judge.
In spite of complaint from lawyers about delay of cases, Justice Obot has not taken steps to address the issues affecting lawyers and litigants.
Lawyers who file new prosesses are made to part with between one thousand and two thousand naira, which staff in the process department claim they use to purchase files as they are not supplied stationeries and other materials needed to work with.
She has allegedly usurped duties of the Chief Registrar and handed same to her acolytes. For instance, the Chief Registrar who is the chief operating officer of the Judiciary is in the dark how power is supplied to courts in the state, because, one of her acolytes by name Katele Ajah is the person in charge of supplies of diesel to courts.
According to insiders, Katele Ajah is arrogated so much power that any member of staff that challenges him is penalized by way of transfer outside Uyo.
Some judges are said to have been reprimand by Justice Obot for asking Ajah to do the proper thing to aide administration of justice in the state.
Deputy Registrars who are administrative heads in jurisdictions outside the headquarters are rendered redundant as all their duties are being carried out by Ajah with the support of the Chief Judge.
The Chief Judge in trying to settle her loyalists displays nepotism at it’s abysmal low. She has turned the office of Secretary of the State Judicial Service Commission to a retirement office, where surreptitiously plant staff of the Judiciary.
Between October, 2021 to date, the JSC has been saddled with two different secretaries, since it’s former Secretary,Ekpris Gladstone Urujzian was appointed Chief Registrar of the Judiciary. In 2021, Emmanuel Christopher, a deputy chief registrar who had just six months left to retire was appointed to take over from Ekpris Gladstone Urujzian.
Upon the retirement of Emmanuel Christopher last year, she appointed another person from the Judiciary, Patience Nneke as the Secretary of JSC. According to our source, the Chief Judge uses the office to compensate her loyalists who are usually the least qualified amongst the candidates , sacrificing merit on the altar of nepotism and favouritism.
As head of the Judiciary and custodian of the law in the state, Justice Obot has since attending office, shown disdain for the law. It is this same judge that cited a lawyer, Inibehe Effiong for contempt, for asking that his case be transferred to another court.
Also, in the appointment of Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, she through her notice restricted the vacancy to staff of the Judiciary alone, as against the law establishing the Commission, which opens the office to lawyers not less than seven years post call.
The recent appointment of 10 Magistrates into the Akwa Ibom Judiciary by Justice Obot on the last Thursday of December,2022 further exposed the level nepotism being carried out in the state Judiciary.
Unlike in the past when information of such event is widely circulated, the ceremony which took place at the Chief Judge’s Chambers, Judiciary Headquarters, Uyo, was shrouded in secrecy as only Justice Obot, the Chief Registrar and the new appointees were in the know of the ceremony. The information was hidden from other judges, magistrates, members of the NBA and judiciary staff.
The new magistrates are; Chinonyelum Diamond Akpanika from Ibeno Local Government Area, Peace Godwin Edemekong, Okobo, Roseline Joe Eshett, Ibeno, Amanda Michael Effiom, Ibesikpo Asutan , Aniefiok Fabian Obot, ONNA Local Government Area, Imaobong Ifiok Umana, Etinan, Ifiok Sunday Ubom, Oruk Anam, Immaculata Victor Idiong, Obot Akara, UbongAbasi Fidelis Onwuoduokit, Urueffong Oruko and Etinyene Solomon Etuk from Nsit Ubium Local Government Area.
The reason for the secrecy of the inauguration was brought to fore when their designations were made public as one of the new appointees was given Chief Magistrate Grade II, six were made Senior Magistrate I, two others were made Magistrate Grade I,while only one of the new appointees was placed on the proper Magistrate Grade II, which is the proper entry level for the magistracy cadre.
According to public service rules, the entry point into service is level 8, 9 or 10 depending on the qualifications possessed by the applicant. An applicant (Lawyer) into the Ministry of Justice as State Counsel starts at level 10, because of the Bachelor of Laws degree obtained from the Nigerian Law School.
The entry point into the Magistracy is Magistrate Grade II, however between Justice Obot and her predessor, Justice Godwin Abraham (Rtd.), the appointment of Chief Magistrates and Senior Magistrates Grade 1 have become the order of the day, without an iota of care for public service rules, justice, equity and good conscience.
To some watchers of happenings in the judiciary, the brazen abuse of power by the Chief Judge must have come as a shock, however keen followers of her administration understand how ruthless she is in the use and abuse of power and have faulted her appointment of her son and other young lawyers lacking experience on the bench above highly senior experienced serving magistrates on the bench.
According to investigation by this writer, there are about three senior lawyers, appointed in 2020 into Magistrate Grad. II and have not been promoted, while all who were appointed in 2017, seven years ago are still Magistrate Grade I and have spent four years on the rank with promotion,, while some serving magistrates are in Senior Magistrate Grade II, with their years of call and experience on the bench.
These magistrates were called to the Nigerian Bar severally between 2010 and 2012, so it’s highly condemnable that in her desperation to position her son to be appointed a judge upon her retirement, the Chief Judge on a bazzar without a care for the public service rules by appointing young lawyers who were called to the Nigerian Bar in 2015 and even 2018 to be 2 level seniors to those who are their seniors by call and service on the bench.
A look at the appointment by Justice Obot shows that Rose Joe Eshett who was called to Bar in 2010, Peace Godwin Edemekong called in 2013; Amanda Michael Effiom, 2014, Aniefiok Fabian Obot 2015, Imabong Ifiok Ukanna 2015, Ifiok Sunday Ubom 2015 without any experience on the lower bench were appointed as Senior Magistrates Grade I, clear two levels ahead of those appointed 2017,while, Immaculata Victor Idiong called in 2017 and Ubongabasi Fidelis Onwuoduokit also called same year were appointed directly to the rank of Magistrates Grade , putting them at par with those who were appointed months before their call to Bar.
Shockingly is the fact that the Chief Judge who was a victim of what she is handing out to staff of the Judiciary, when her predecessor in office worked against her emergence as Chief Judge has not learnt from her experience and it is believed that with her ilks heading the third arm of government, the much touted financial autonomy will be an albatross for Judicial system.
A lawyer who wrote the test for eligible lawyers aspiring to be magistrates, alleged that from the beginning, the test was skewed to favour the Chief Judge’s son, Aniefiok Fabian Obot and the selected few who were eventually appointed.
She stressed that even in the multi purpose hall where the wrote the test, the Chief Judge’s son was given the latitude to do what he liked and even given extra time to continue writing, while others were forced to stop.
She further claimed that when the list of thirteen shortlisted applicants for interview was published, the names of some lawyers who did not write the test appeared and they were the people who were eventually employed.
A senior lawyer expressed shock that the Chief Judge could act in such a manner, without regards for due process, equity and justice; stating that her actions in office will bring the Judiciary to an abysmal low and make it a subject of ridicule.
He is calling on Governor Udom to intervene by withholding his approval for the appointees; for the sake of the morale of serving magistrates and sanctity of the Judiciary.
In the meantime, efforts to get the embattled chief judge side of the story did not yield any dividend as our reporter was told, “she is too busy to attend to trivial issues.”
