Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
Senator Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Imo State, swore in the newly appointed Chief Judge of Imo State, President of the Customary Court of Appeal, and eight other justices of the Imo State High Court and Customary Court, urging them not to betray society’s trust.
Uzodimma urged them to take their oath of office seriously because the judiciary was the common man’s last hope. Justice Theresa Eberechukwu Chikeka, Chief Judge of Imo State, and the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Owerri, were among those sworn in on Wednesday at Government House, Owerri’s new executive chambers.
Among the others were eight Imo State High Court judges and three Customary Court of Appeal judges.
The governor told them after the ceremony that the oath they took was “a call to service, a tasking one, and as such must be carried out with the sincerity of purpose it deserves.”
“We need a judiciary that can withstand the test of time,” he said, adding that “this can only be accomplished when the judiciary’s profession and performance is viewed as the citadel of justice.”
“The judiciary has been blamed for making justice too expensive for the common man over time, and the gap between the common man and the judiciary has grown too wide.”
He then pleaded with the chief judge and her colleagues to do everything in their power to bridge the chasm, reminding them that “the three arms of government are one and intertwined as the executive, legislature, and judiciary work in tandem and in pari-pasu.”
As a result, the governor advised judges to avoid making decisions that are embarrassing to both the people and the state government for various reasons best known to them.
He urged them to use their authority to restore the statement that the judiciary is the common man’s last hope, and praised Justice Chikeka’s efficiency, saying that as acting chief judge, he found in her an efficient and effective judge “who is ready to give her best while in office.”
The chief judge thanked God for the opportunity to swear them in.
She promised that they would keep their end of the bargain and that “by the grace of God, we will not fail the government and people of the state, or Nigeria in general.”
Justice Chinyere Ngozi Okereke, Justice Anthoneth Chinyere Onyeukwu, Justice Innocent Chidi Ibeawuchi, Justice Obinna Emmanuel Nwachukwu, Justice Lotanna Chukwunyere Leo Alino, and Justice Michael Bless Onyekachi were among the newly sworn-in High Court judges.
Justice Okafor Emeka and Justice Chinemerem Ijeoma Onuegbu of the Customary Court of Appeal were among those present.
