Court Stops Swearing-in Of Imo New Deputy Gov
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Milletus Nlemadim, SAN, disclosed this Tuesday when he tried to explain the absence of any High Court Judge to perform the swearing-in exercise scheduled for the Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Owerri.
Although the AG did not give the name of the Judge or the plaintiff, he however confirmed that “the court has stopped the swearing-in of new Imo Deputy Governor designate.”
Continuing, Nlemadim said: “The governor nominated Mr. Calistus Ekenze and that nomination was approved unanimously by the State House of Assembly. We came here today for the swearing-in but our attention has been drawn to an interim order, temporarily stopping the Chief Judge from performing this ceremony.
“We have quickly taken the necessary steps to vacate that order and that will be concluded in a very short time. We shall for now shift the swearing-in ceremony in obedience to the order of court.”
Prior to the briefing, speculations were rife that judges in the state were very angry with the state Governor, Rochas Okorocha and the lawmakers, over the way the administration had been flouting court orders.
Governor Rochas Okorocha has said that he would respect the court order stopping the swearing-in of the new deputy governor, Mr. Calistus Ekenze. Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo said this in a release to newsmen in Owerri.
The release also said that the governor had called on his party members to remain law-abiding.
As captured by the release, “the scheduled swearing-in of the new Deputy-Governor of the State, Sir Calistus Ekenze, on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 by 9am, could not take place again following the directive by the State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha that the Interim Court Order restraining the Chief Judge of the State from carrying out the exercise be fully obeyed.