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Interview with Abia State CRAN
President, A. I. Nwaonuma

The Court Registrars' Association of Nigeria (CRAN), Abia State branch has been involved in a running battle with the Chief Judge of that State, Justice K.O Amah for quite some time now. The Association has taken Chief Judge Amah to the National Judicial Council, the ICPC, the Abia House of Assembly, to Court, and, not the least, to the court of public opinion, all targeted at removing CJ Amah from office. In November 2003 Chief Judge Amah suspended some of CRAN's principal officers without pay. In the following interview with CRAN President, Sir A.I Nwaonumah, we probe the hot pursuit of CJ Amah, and serve you the interesting details to inform your own opinions. Chris Ohuruogu, member of AJ's Board of Trustees conducted this interview with Sir Nwaonumah, President, Court Registrars Association of Nigeria (CRAN) Abia State.

AJ : What role did you play in the clamour for Justice Amah's removal from office prior to the investigation and report of the Abia State House of Assembly.

A : O.k., you see I am the President of Court Registrars Association, Abia State High Court. When NJC found Amah guilty of misconduct, we thought that everything was over. That panel found him guilty, and if you look at the Constitution Section 292(1)(a) you will find out that somebody at that level who is found guilty of misconduct ought to be removed. But this very panel, after finding him guilty, maybe because of his relationship … they chose to reprimand him, let him go away and sin no more. When we came back, we thought that it was all over. I personally went to the Chief Registrar and asked him, more than three times to allow us to see the CJ so that we'll sit at a round table conference and air our grievances so that he also will tell us whatever he wants to tell us. Instead of agreeing to that invitation he started giving us (CRAN Executives) queries upon queries with a view to dismissing us. Some of the queries were from theJSC, [of] which the Chief Judge himself is the chairman.

“The CJN pairing him with the person investigating him to go and investigate another person, that is unheard of. So for that we lost confidence”

AJ: Now you mean the State Judicial Service Commission?

A : Yes the State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the Chief Judge himself who [we petitioned] is the Chairman of that Commission. So he continued to use the Commission at will. Most of the people at that Commission are very old, aged people.…. So when we saw these queries coming, we said ah, we thought that everything was over, we went to the Chief Registrar, Sir E.U Onuoha, again.

When we found out that they were actually out to dismiss us, or something like that and based on further fraud committed by the CJ after the other NJC matter, and then the audit alert, which we also saw, quite different from what we took him to the NJC for... we say oh, he has skeleton in his cupboard and he is pursuing us to dismiss us. So that is how we came about going to the House of Assembly. We said O.K since he's not tired about that of the NJC, let us then go to the House (of Assembly) and then let the world hear us out and know whether we are saying the truth or not. So we gathered all the new findings and we went to the House of Assembly with another petition based on our new findings of fraud. So you see the Abia State House of Assembly invited them and we attached everything …
AJ : (Cuts in) We will come to that, but why didn't you go back to the NJC when fresh facts of fraud … emerged?

A : …[w]ithin the time Justice Amah was being investigated, the Chairman of that investigation panel was also put along with Justice Amah to investigate another Judge in Delta State. Can you imagine? Somebody is being investigated and you pair up [the person with] the Chairman who is investigating him to go and investigate another person. So you find out that there wouldn't be any fair trial.

AJ : So in other words..........

A : (Cuts in) In other words most of what we went to the NJC we proved everything beyond every reasonable doubt but they chose to pick only one or two and then said that he was guilty of those one or two, even though [the others were] proved beyond reasonable doubt. The CJN pairing him with the person investigating him to go and investigate another person, that is unheard of. So for that we lost confidence. That is why we started going to the House of Assembly.

AJ : The Attorney General of Abia State [lent] support to the disciplinary procedure against you because you bypassed the normal channel of complaint when you went straight to the House of Assembly. What do you have to say about that?

A: The Attorney General himself, Chief Awa Kalu, is part of the people prosecuting us. He's also a member of the Judicial Service Commission where the Chief Judge is the Chairman, and he's very close to the Chief Judge himself. Then he wants his own personal wife to be made a Judge of Abia State and the only person who will recommend his wife is the Chief Judge so he must do anything to please the Chief Judge in order to pick his wife.

AJ : Do you have anything to prove what you have just said?

A : What I'm saying is the truth. If you look at the nomination or whatever, you will see that his wife is also among the people nominated by the Chief Judge and apart from that, even the Chief Registrar is sort of his cousin, so it just continues.

AJ : In other words, you are saying that the AG himself is....

AJ : He is not detached from the CJ. In other words he can't form an opinion that is against the CJ...?

A : He cannot.

AJ : OK. why will...

A : [Cuts in] So why I'm telling you this is look at the AG of a State. He knew the NJC found him [Justice Amah] guilty of misconduct. [It was] is publicised, but you found out that one newspaper was quoting the same AG as saying that he never knew that he was convicted of misconduct, [that he] does not even know that there was any crisis in the Judiciary. How can you look at such person to be of the truth, telling somebody...

AJ : [Cutting in] OK now, if I may recount what you just told me, you decided not to go back to the NJC because you lost confidence in the NJC … [because] the CJ is a friend to the CJN and that he appointed the CJ and someone who was investigating the CJ to investigate another Judge…

A : And that notwithstanding our CJ built a Court hall and {named it after] the CJN.

AJ : Yes, by the way I saw the building, how much did it cost?

A : Well, I don't know, because I was not at the headquarters at that time, I had been thrown out of the headquarters.

A : Some people have accused you of harbouring particular motives, maybe as the president of the CRAN, that probably you were not in good terms with the CJ and that was why you and your [colleagues] decided to fight him. Is that true?

A: That is not true. Let me tell you one thing, the CJ himself of Abia State, Justice Kalu Ogbonnaya Amah is from the same local government with me. In fact when Abia State was newly created and I was coming from Owerri, because, you know, we were all at Owerri headquarters, I was coming from Owerri for three good years before I found [a] house in Umuahia. He, Amah used to send me on errands to his two daughters who were schooling at Alvan Ikoku College of Education, sending money through me, letters and so on. I did that for three good years plus. And apart from being from my own local government, I love him so much, and when he was appointed the CJ of Abia I was very happy. I said yes, my own person has come. Then eventually when he came, myself being in headquarters too, as a brother [I] used to approach him when he wants to make mistake and one of such mistakes was when he wanted me to pay him furniture allowance which normally is supposed to be paid to judges who are not living in quarters, but by then he was living in government Guest House. I approached him,' brother, you are not entitled to this. It is only paid to Judges who are not living in quarters. He refused because he has much love for money. He said I must include his name. I said, “ok.” I went and included his name but when we carried the voucher to the State Auditors, they found it out and they said, “Ah, ah, why did you put your CJ's name? Is he not living in the Guest House?” I said, “Abeg, please if you don't pay him this thing he will think I told you not to.”

“It is further submitted that by Exhibit 11, Justice K. O. Amah was not qualified at all to be appointed a judge or a Chief Judge of the High Court Abia State. By the findings of Misconduct of the NJC in Exhibit 5, K. O. Amah ought to have been dismissed from service as it was proved beyond doubt that he is not a fit and proper person to continue in that office as Chief Judge or a Judge of the High Court Of Gods Own State” Report of the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on the Judiciary and Administration of Justice

The present Auditor–General, was the person who found that out and he refused that he was not going to pass that voucher, but when I begged him we went to the Auditor-General at that time, even though he is now late, I begged him. Enwerechi called the present Auditor-General who took over after the death of Enwerechi, and told the Auditor-General to pay. Then he said “no, unless you put it in writing.” So Enwerechi minuted to him and he passed the voucher. I personally took that money to him in his Guest House. He signed for it and collected the money. Then eventually because of that and some other advice I was giving to him as a brother he felt that I didn't want him to eat money, he posted me out from Umuahia to Ohafia. With all happiness I went. So instead of staying there and seeing some of these things and then involving myself, let me go on transfer, so I went.

And every day a whole CJ who calls himself my brother will leave the headquarters and then come to monitor whether I am on duty at Ohafia High Court. Any day he does not see me on seat he will tell the Chief Registrar to query me. Query, query, query. Imagine out of 29 or say 30 years I have put .. in … service, the first 26 years I had no query, no single query, but within his own period, I have earned not less than twenty something queries, simply because I tried to advise my brother, you see. So anybody saying that maybe I hate him or there was anything, there was nothing like that, because even before these things started we saw so many write-ups in newspapers, magazines and so on, against him. I summoned a general meeting of the CRAN and we decided that I with the executive would go to him and ask him what is all this.

“He decided to pick on me because I was telling him this is not how to eat government money, the furniture allowance issue and some others, which I don't want to mention here.... Secondly because I am the President of the CRAN, he felt that I on my own should have stopped the CRAN petitioning to the NJC, when I don't have such veto power. In any meeting you go by majority vote, isn't it? ... he felt that I was convening executive meetings without authority from him. How can I take authority from him before convening executive meeting of my own union?”

I told the secretary to write a letter to him to ask for a date when we shall come and meet him. You know what he did? Instead of giving us a date he wrote a letter to the SSS (State Security Service), reporting us to them that we were threatening him. The SSS called us. When I went the Director said “ah, ah, Nwaonumah what are you doing here?” I said, “you people invited us.” He now brought the letter, which our CJ wrote. He said “Look oh, he said you people are threatening him.” I told him that we wrote to the CJ asking for him to interact with us. He did not. Instead he wrote you to punish us or to trouble us, or whatever.

AJ : You have been trying to say you had no problems with him, why did he then decide to pick on you?

A : He decided to pick on me because I was telling him this is not how to eat government money, the furniture allowance issue and some others, which I don't want to mention here. Because of all that he posted me away. I went away. Secondly because I am the President of the CRAN, he felt that I on my own should have stopped the CRAN petitioning to the NJC, when I don't have such veto power. In any meeting you go by majority vote, isn't it? And at the same time he felt that I was convening executive meetings without authority from him. How can I take authority from him before convening executive meeting of my own union? Even if I am convening in the hotel or anywhere. Those are the areas he started picking on me. Some things I was not doing as a person, but as a figurehead.

AJ : I want to ask you although, I don't know if you're competent to speak for Mrs. Rose Okiyih?

A : Yes, the Internal Auditor.

AJ : Yes, now there is a report at page 29 of … Newswatch of February 9, 2004. It has somewhere it stated Justice Amah also had problems with Rose Okiyi, who blew the lid in 2001 about the Judge's … financial transactions. What was the problem the CJ had with Rose Okiyi?

A : The problem, even though I would have loved Rose Okiyi to answer for herself but since I am the president and I know some of these things, I can equally answer you. One, Rose Okiyi was our Internal Auditor and when she queries vouchers, which they raised, they will not answer the query. They continued paying even without raising vouchers. Government money, paying them without raising vouchers! And when eventually after paying them and so on, they raised vouchers and brought such vouchers for her to stamp; she would say no, and then he would query you. Those are some of the problems and when these things were brought to the knowledge of the CJ, who is actually involved in all those frauds and.... He became angry with her and also posted her away and put in a stooge, somebody who does not know anything about accounting in that Internal (audit) office. So that is the problem too, because he, Amah does not want anybody to oppose him, even his fellow Judges. When any of them gives any ruling against him, he will transfer the person quickly from that Judicial Division to another place. If you want I will give you examples.

“The greatest scourge an angry heaven ever bestowed on a people is an incompetent judiciary, incompetent judges on the Bench, then you can never, ever get justice, and the whole purpose of the law is to ensure justice” - Chief Akin Olujimi SAN, Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of Justice

“Sometimes ago, it was my very painful duty to blow the whistle on judicial corruption in our country. I have no regrets whatsoever in carrying out that painful duty. I like to think that what we did at that time saved Nigeria from the situation in which Kenya found itself in recent times when the judiciary of that country was disgraced” - Chief F.R.A. Williams, SAN

AJ : Yes please

A : Now somebody like honourable Justice I.F Ogbuagu, who is now of the Court of Appeal. When he was at Ohafia there was a ruling he gave against Justice Amah. There was a court, which was sighted at Arochukwu, that court they had built it up to [a] level; incidentally without bringing out anything. Without any authority he carried the court hall to his own town, just behind his house in Otutu. He started building it day and night, day and night and so the Arochukwu people sued him saying why did he remove the court that was supposed to be in their own town to his own town, Otutu. Then Justice Amah's lawyer brought in something like a preliminary objection, that the court had no jurisdiction and that the person who sued had no authority of the Arochukwu people to sue. So after the argument of both lawyers and so Justice Ogbuagu ruled against him. That matter is now in the Court of Appeal. He quickly transferred Justice Ogbuagu to High Court in Isikwuato. Before Justice Ogbuagu could report at Isikwuato High Court he was elevated to Court of Appeal. So he just left.

Now another one, Justice Imoh, who was formerly at Isiala Ngwa Judicial Division also gave a ruling which the CJ did not like. He transferred him immediately to Ukwa, and all these people are very senior judges, even senior to him.

“...but they did not say anything in their Report about reinstating us, because we went and testified in the House of Assembly that Justice Amah suspended us since last year without salary...”

Apart from that one, I.M. Akoma gave a ruling too in a case between Justice Amah and the Secretary of Judicial Service Commission, when Amah wanted to remove the lady. The lady sued saying that Amah had no authority to remove her. That Judge gave ruling in favour of the Secretary. He (Amah) quickly transferred Akoma. On and on. Look at somebody like me on grade level 14, he had to post me from Ohafia again to Umunoji Chief Magistrates Court, a place I am not supposed to be - Magistrate's court! And then somebody, a very junior person who is on grade level 9, he posted to High Court …. Invariably somebody of grade level 14 [will then] be under somebody on grade level 9, who is in charge of High Court! Not only myself. One other person, Assistant Chief Registrar 2 on grade level 14, V.U. Asonye, he posted to Akwete Magistrate Court. Can you imagine? And then a junior person was posted to High court of that Area. In doing so [he] thinks he is [dealing with us but he is] killing the system, the job, because he was putting people who don't even know how to manage those areas.
AJ : O.k., let us go to the House of Assembly Report. Are you satisfied with the Report? If not, are there areas you think the House should have touched, which they didn't, or...?
A : Well I will say that I'm a bit satisfied with the House of Assembly and their recommendations, but they did not say anything in their Report about reinstating us, because we went and testified in the House of Assembly that Justice Amah suspended us since last year without salary, not minding that we have families. Then the Report did not say anything about reinstating us and then giving us our entitlements, say for instance some of our juniors have been recently promoted by Amah over and above all of us. My last promotion had been since 1999. By now I should have been at least at grade level 16. Is that good, simply because we were exercising our constitutional rights and the funny thing about the whole thing is that both Amah and those supporting him, have not said that what we are saying is not the truth.

A : What I have to say is that I'm sorry, he's the AG, but there's no single truth in whatever he's saying. He's already biased.. Now seeing that we went to court, they went to court before us. They sued us at the Federal High Court Umuahia. The suit number is FHC/UM/CS/147/2003, and the plaintiffs, Hon. Justice K.O Amah, Chief Judge of Abia State. The Second Plaintiff, National Judicial Council, even though before you do that you should have obtained permission from the National Judicial Council, but they just slotted their name in there. Third, Judicial Service Commission, … [which ought] to mediate, they are the Plaintiffs suing us. Look at –Hon. Justice Uba, President, Customary Court of Appeal. I don't know why they brought this man in.

Then second person, Court Registrars Association of Abia State High Court, then third person, A.I Nwaonumah, then fourth person, Barrister Ogbuike Ugo, fifth person, the Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly. Sixth person is Honourable Uzo Azubuike, chairman House committee on Judiciary and Justice. Seventh person is Honourable Chidiebere Nwoke. The suit is asking that these people should not investigate him,. When we saw that, we also sued in Abia State High Court in suit number HU192/2003, asking that Judicial Service Committee shouldn't dismiss us or suspend us or do anything against us, because we went to testify in the House (of Assembly) against the CJ of Abia State. So if we have committed any sin, they committed the sin before us, and based on the one that we have sued they suspended us, but nothing has been done to them. They sued first.

AJ : Was there an injunction by the Court that...?

A : No, this very suit that we brought against them in reply to this one, the Chief Judge himself gave it to one Justice Obisike Orji who is a very close friend of his. You know what the man did? Before you know he struck out the case. That is why we are appealing; because he said he has no jurisdiction and that we were on a frolic of our own.. We know that actually we cannot get justice in some of the Abia State High Courts … some of the judges have no courage, but those who have courage he continues to victimize. When we went for this one, [where] he sued us,the Federal High Court also struck out their own for want of prosecution because every time they will not appear. Thus the court struck it out too. So the two cases are off.

A : Let me tell you in all honesty, if you go and investigate all of us who are in the executive, there is no disciplinary action against us, except this issue of taking the CJ to NJC or to House of Assembly. Otherwise, nothing. Some of the queries they gave us we answered. When they saw our answers they refused to investigate, nothing.

“An essential element of the right to a fair trial is the procedural equality of parties, the so-called ‘equality of arms.' If the judicial system is corrupt, no such elements will exist. Judicial corruption unduly influences access to and outcome of judicial decisions. The decisions will remain unfair and unpredictable and consequently the rule of law will not prevail” - Nihal Jayawickrama, in Strengthening Judicial Integrity against Corruption by Peter Langseth and Oliver Stolpe

“I shall administer justice without fear, regardless of any intimidation from any quarter and without favour of anyone, no matter whether he be a member of our Honourable profession or a layman, and be he in an exalted position in life or otherwise, I shall never be deterred” - Justice Afolabi Balogun(rtd) in a paper titled, Towards the Efficient Administration of Justice”

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