Enugu Chief Judge Refutes Claim He Forged Court’s Judgment

March 20, 2016

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Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

The Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Innocent Azubuike Umezulike has rejected an allegation that he forged a judgment of the state high court.

Speaking at a dinner he organised for members of the Eastern Bar Forum in Enugu, his lordship said on the contrary, it was the lawyer, Mr. Peter Aze, who wrote a petition against him to the National Judicial Commission (NJC) who engaged in forgery.

There has been a running battle between Eze and the Chief Judge since 2014. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN had on the strength of a petition written by Eze, directed the NJC and the Inspector General of Police to investigate Justice Umezulike and another staff member of the Enugu High Court, Mr. Vin Aneke, for alleged forgery of a court order.
Reacting to the petitions, Justice Umezulike denied any wrong doing.

He said: “Recently one Mr. Peter Eze lodged petitions against me to the Attorney General of the Federation; the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the I.C.P.C. Not satisfied with the investigations being made by these credible agencies of government he carried his campaign of falsities and calumny to the social media and internet.

He lied so much against me that I forged the judgment of Justice P.K. Nwokedi (as Chief Judge of Old Anambra State) delivered in 1985 when I was not even a judge or elevated to the Bench.
“As members of the highly revered and noble profession to which all of us belong I owe you an explanation.

There was no forgery and it is wicked and impossible to associate me with anything approximating forgery. The truth of the matter is that Justice P. K. Nwokedi as Chief Judge of Old Anambra State with Headquarters in Enugu delivered judgment in Suit NO: E.170/76 on the 25th day of June, 1985. Thereafter the case progressed through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court which delivered final judgment in the case in favour of the plaintiffs.

“By the time the Supreme Court finally decided the appeal, Justice P.K. Nwokedi has ceased to be the Chief Judge of Old Anambra State (with Enugu as its Headquarters); he had been elevated to the Supreme Court from the High Court of Old Anambra State. And by the time Supreme Court dismissed the appeal in January 1997, Justice P. K. Nwokedi had retired from the Supreme Court and was no longer a judicial officer.

“The case file in the suit was remitted back to the High Court Registry Enugu in February 2009. It was at that time that the successful party at the Supreme Court by a PRAECIPE applied to my office for warrant of Execution and Judgment Order. At this time P.K. Nwokedi was no longer in judicial service, having retired from the Supreme Court.

“Would the judgment of the Supreme Court remain sterilised or castrated because P. K. Nwokedi (JSC rtd) had retired from judicial office? Could he be recalled from retirement to sign the warrant of execution? A negative answer is obvious. I was satisfied that the Supreme Court had ended the matter, I, (as the Chief Judge of Enugu State now) signed the warrant of execution”, he added.