Why Jonathan ordered Bayelsa CJ to swear in Wike as Rivers Gov May 29

* How 14 months face-off between Amaechi, NJC caused it

By Ikenna Asomba

Following the protracted impasse that has left Rivers State without a substantive Chief Judge, the Federal Government, Tuesday, directed the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State to swear-in the Governor-elect of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, on May 29.

The directive for the Bayelsa Chief Judge to administer the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office on‎ Wike was contained in a press statement that was issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN.

According to the AGF, the order was necessitated by the fact that Rivers State neither has a substantive CJ nor President of the Customary Court of Appeal.

Adoke said it was regrettable that the existing vacuum in the higher rung of the River State judiciary has made strict compliance with requirements of Section 185 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, under which Wike should have ordinarily be sworn in, virtually impossible.

Adoke said it was owing to the situation that FG decided to invoke the provision of section185 (2) of the Constitution, so as to empower the Bayelsa CJ to conduct the governorship swearing-in ceremony in River state on May 29.

The AGF noted that section 185 (2) of the constitution provides that, “The Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office shall be administered by the Chief Judge of the state or Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the state, if any, or President of the Customary Court of Appeal of the state, if any, or the person for the time being respectively appointed to exercise the functions of any of those offices in any state.”

The statement read: “The general public, particularly the government and people of Rivers State, are hereby invited to take note of this development and appreciate the fact that the invitation extended to the Chief Judge of Bayelsa State to administer the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office on the Governor-elect of Rivers State on May 29, 2015 is in accordance with the Constitution and should therefore be respected by all and sundry.”

Genesis of crisis  

Recall that since March 18, 2014, when Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State appointed and inaugurated Justice Peter Agumagu as the state Chief Judge, there has been face-off between the State government and the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the appointment.

While Amaechi maintained the position that his nominee for the office, Justice Agumagu should be confirmed by the NJC, the NJC insisted that due process, especially as it concerns seniority of Judges and conduct should be the major criteria for selecting a nominee for the office.

Section 271 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended specified how the Chief Judge of a state can be appointed. The sub-section reads thus: “The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Judge of a State shall be made by the Governor of the state on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council subject to confirmation of the appointment by the House of Assembly of the State.”

The inability of the NJC and Rivers State government to consenting on the appointment of a new Chief Judge for the state led to the appointment of an Administrative Judge, which the members of the Bar and Bench in the state rejected. Since then, the courts in Rivers State have not sat.

However, mixed feelings have continued to greet this latest order by the Jonathan-led Federal Government, even as many political observers have their fingers crossed on how events of the swearing-in ceremony will play out.