A dispute over Imo’s chief judge shortlist sharpened after Attorney-General Paul Obinatu challenged a directive by Nigeria’s National Judicial Council (NJC) to add Acting Chief Judge Ijeoma Agugua to the candidate list for the permanent post.
In a statement made available to PUNCH Online on Nov. 6, Obinatu said the NJC’s recommendation role “does not confer on it the additional power” to decide which names the Imo State Judicial Service Commission submits. He argued that the commission must select candidates for review.
Section 202 of Nigeria’s Constitution says a State Judicial Service Commission is not subject to the direction and control of any other authority or person when making appointments or exercising disciplinary control. The Constitution gives the commission an advisory role and authorizes the NJC to recommend a candidate from the names submitted. The governor’s appointment requires confirmation by the state House of Assembly.
The NJC directive to add Agugua to the shortlist followed a petition considered at the council’s Nov. 3 meeting. Bob Kay Njemanze filed the petition on June 11, 2026, challenging Agugua’s omission. The NJC described her as Imo’s most senior High Court judge and acting chief judge, then told its secretariat to ask the commission to include her.
The NJC said the commission advises it on candidates, while the council decides whether those presented are suitable. The disagreement centers on who controls the names put forward for that review.
The council previously intervened in Imo’s acting-chief-judge process. In April 2025, it directed Gov. Hope Uzodimma to appoint the most senior High Court judge, saying then-acting chief judge Theophilus Nnamdi Nzeukwu ranked fourth in seniority. That intervention concerned Section 271(4), which governs acting appointments; the current dispute concerns selection for a substantive post.
The NJC’s Nov. 4 communiqué sets no deadline for its secretariat to make the request or for the commission to respond. For Imo’s substantive chief judge post, it named no NJC nominee and announced no appointment; the next stated step is the request to include Agugua.
