Governor Uzodinma Looks for a Chief Judge to Control in Imo State

Imo State is the latest place where the Chief Judge is being sidelined. The state has been without a Chief Judge for almost 20 months. This followed the National Judicial Council (NJC) firing the last Chief Judge for age falsification in November 2024. In April 2025, the NJC blocked the governor's plan to bypass the three most senior judges in the state and appoint the fourth as Acting Chief Judge.

The governor, with clear hesitation, followed the NJC's order to put the most senior judge in the state as Acting Chief Judge. Ijeoma Ogugua has been a judge at the High Court of Imo State since 1993, giving her 33 years on the bench. She has been passed over for the Chief Judge position at least twice. The next senior judge is 11 years younger than her.

Yet, that is the judge the governor and the State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) want to see as Chief Judge.

On June 5, the JSC asked for public opinions on a shortlist of two judges. This shortlist did not include the Acting Chief Judge. The JSC said it made this choice based on the 2023 amendment of the NJC's Procedural Rules. However, those rules are meant for appointing new judges, not for selecting a Chief Judge.

The Imo State JSC is claiming a power it does not have. The Constitution says it can only give “advice” to the NJC on “suitable persons for nomination” as Chief Judge. In simple terms, the JSC acts like a commentator. The NJC has the power to actually recommend someone for the position.

Clearly, the shortlist from the Imo State JSC aims to keep the most senior judge out of the running. There are serious claims that some senior lawyers in the state who shared their views were “influenced, appreciated or coerced with the envelopes.”

Earlier in 2025, Governor Hope Uzodinma wrote to the NJC asking for permission to appoint his chosen person as Acting Chief Judge. He claimed that “[the three most senior Judges [were] not appointable” and made false claims against the most senior judge in the state. But he does not want any of his claims checked by the NJC.

The Acting Chief Judge that Governor Uzodinma wants to exclude has no negative record with the NJC. This situation gives the current Chief Justice of Nigeria a chance to set the right standards. It is not her job to give the governor a Chief Judge he can control.