LEST YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN, YOUR EXCELLENCY: SWEAR IN THE APPOINTED ACTING CHIEF JUDGE OF IMO STATE IMMEDIATELY.
AN OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SENATOR HOPE UZODIMMA, GOVERNOR OF IMO STATE.
Your Excellency,
Greetings from a concerned citizen, legal practitioner, and advocate for good governance and judicial integrity in Imo State.
…. Specifically on 23 July 2025—Your Excellency, through a state-owned Radio Station, announced the appointment of the most senior judge of the Imo State High Court [Hon. Justice I.O. Agugua] as Acting Chief Judge. That move, though belated, was welcomed with cautious optimism. It offered a glimmer of hope that our judiciary, long weighed down by constitutional uncertainty, might finally be guided back onto the path of lawful order and institutional respect.
Your Excellency, in Igbo cosmology, a full cycle of eight market days—Eke, Orie, Afo, and Nkwo, twice repeated—marks a complete traditional week and a fair opportunity for action. It is both a spiritual and communal threshold that signifies patience, trust, and honour. When one is given “izu ukwu” (eight market days) to perform a task and still fails, it is culturally interpreted as deliberate inaction or disregard.
Your Excellency, after _izu ukwu_ has passed, the window of goodwill begins to narrow. We must now ask: Why has the appointed Acting Chief Judge not been formally sworn in? Why has no instrument of appointment been issued to the appointed judge? Why is the Imo State Judiciary still without a constitutionally recognised head?
This continued delay, after a constitutionally mandated appointment, renders the announcement hollow and of no legal consequence. A judge cannot exercise the powers of Acting Chief Judge without the proper oath of office and instruments of appointment. Anything short of this undermines not only judicial autonomy but also the constitutional integrity of your office.
Your Excellency, if a box remains open for too long, goats will eat its contents. The longer the leadership vacuum persists, the more it emboldens forces that thrive in confusion. The judiciary, being a sacred arm of government, should not be subjected to delay tactics or political hesitations – especially not by an executive whose legitimacy, was forged by the very institution now being neglected.
We respectfully remind Your Excellency that upholding the Constitution is not optional—it is the solemn duty you swore to on the day of your inauguration. In some jurisdictions where the legislative arm is alive to its constitutional responsibilities, persistent and willful violation of constitutional provisions, such as this, may attract consequences as grave as impeachment. That is not a threat—it is a constitutional reality and civic duty.
This is not the time to play politics with the judiciary. The relationship between the executive and the judiciary must be one of mutual respect; not manipulation or strategic silence. To continue on this path is to risk being remembered in history as the leader who betrayed the very institution that once secured his place in power.
Your Excellency, let the eagle perch and let the kite perch, too; whoever says the other should not perch, let its wings break. The judiciary deserves its rightful perch. Any attempt to clip its wings, whether by omission or by design, is a dishonour to constitutional democracy.
If indeed Your Excellency is committed to the path of constitutionalism, then the next logical and lawful step is clear: issue the instrument of appointment and swear in the appointed Acting Chief Judge without further delay.
The time for waiting has passed. The cycle of izu ukwu has closed.
May posterity judge us not by what we promised, but by what we fulfilled.
Yours in constitutional vigilance,
● Agu, Esq. is the past secretary, NBA Owerri and can be reached at ezeomeaku@gmail.com. This letter was dated 1st August, 2025.
1st August, 2025.
