The Enugu State House of Assembly on Tuesday ratified the compulsory retirement of the former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Innocent Umezulike, as recommended by the National Judicial Council.
This followed a letter brought before the assembly by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the ratification of the recommendation.
Speaking during the debate, Sunday Udeokoye described the compulsory retirement of Umezuike as ‘painful’ to his constituency.
Udeokoye said: “Umezulike is from my constituency and he is a sound judge and made an impact as a chief judge.
“It is painful that he had to leave when he still had two years before this unfortunate incident.
“Since it has been backed by law, what happened to Umezulike can happen to anybody and for that we all take the condition in good faith.”
Also speaking, Dr. Emeka Ogbuabo said that Umezulike was appointed a judge in 1993 but regretted that he did not retire with a national honour.
Umezulike was sanctioned on September 29 after investigations of abuse of office and corruption by the judicial council.
The state governor has already appointed Justice Ngozika Emehelu as the Acting Chief Judge of the state.
Ugwuanyi sent the message to the assembly seeking its stand on the compulsory retirement in pursuant to the constitution as amended.
The assembly unanimously agreed on the ground that the constitution backed such punishment for misconduct.
In another development, the assembly accepted the report of its committee on education which looked into the alleged illegalities in the recent recruitment of 2,000 teachers by the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board.
The assembly had on September 22 cancelled the recruitment following alleged malpractice by the board.
The assembly had on October 10 ordered the committee on education to look into the matter and report back in two weeks.
In its report, the committee recommended that fairness and equity be used in the distribution of qualified candidates to the various local government areas.
The committee also recommended that volunteer teachers who were qualified be absorbed while the exercise be re-conducted in areas where some people were disenfranchised.
The assembly adjourned sitting till October 27.
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