ABIA

ABIA

Nigerian Bar Association Second Vice President Onyekachi Ubani and a human rights group, the Access to Justice, yesterday condemned the suspension of Chief Judge of Abia State by the House of Assembly, saying it was illegal.

According to them, only the National Judicial Council is constitutionally empowered to discipline or suspend a judge.

A2Justice, in a statement by its Director Joseph Otteh, said the CJ’s suspension amounted to a grievous assault on the Judiciary’s independence.

The Abia House of Assembly purportedly suspended Justice Uzokwe for alleged acts of tyranny and gross misconduct and, by a resolution, asked the Governor to appoint an acting Chief Judge.

A2Justice said the suspension was “a brutal violation of the Constitution, and a deliberate affront to the independence of the Judiciary guaranteed by the Constitution as the Abia State legislature has no powers to suspend the Chief Judge or any Judge, adding that the lawmakers overreached their powers.