Abia CJ Removed By House Of Assembly

The Abia State House of Assembly has removed the chief judge, Justice Nnenna Chioma Oti from office, barely three months after her appointment after being accused of misconduct.

The state lawmakers on Friday sacked the state’s first female CJ with 18 out of the 24 members voting in favour of her removal based on the report of the ad hoc committee set up to investigate allegations of misconduct against the CJ for allegedly releasing suspected criminals in prison custody.

It was however gathered by Thisday that the embattled CJ has not been officially notified of her sack and so cannot be considered as having been removed from office. A source within the state judiciary noted that the true situation of things would become clear by Monday. He also doubted the authority of the state legislature to remove the chief judge without recourse to either the State Judicial Council (SJC) or the National Judicial Council (NJC).