NEW CJN TO GRILL 3 CJS

There are strong indications that the National Judicial Council, NJC, will begin the probe of Nasarawa state chief judge, Justice Suleiman Dikko over his alleged partisanship in the impeachment of governor Tanko Al-Makura by the state Assembly.
Two other chief judges, Ambrose Mammadi of Adamawa state and his Enugu counterpart, Justice I. A. Umezurike will also face similar fate.
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Clik here to view.A highly placed Judicial source at the weekend told Nigerian Pilot Sunday that the NJC will officially invite justice Dikko in late November this year to prepare his defense and appear before the panel, which will be chaired by the incoming Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mohammed Mahmod over his alleged involvement in the matter.
According to the source, that will be the major official engagement the new CJN will attend to.
The source further added that apart from the Nasarawa chief Judge petition, the council will also attend to the petitions written against the acting chief judge of Adamawa state, Justice Ambrose Mammadi and the chief judge of Enugu state, Justice Umezurike over their alleged involvement in the impeachment of former governor Murtala Nyako and deputy governor of Enugu state, Sunday Onyebuchi.
The top judicial officer also told Nigeria Pilot Sunday that all the pending petitions hanging against some senior judicial officers (Judges) will be attended to by the new CJN as a continuation of where Justice Mariam Aloma Mukthar stopped.
The CJN will officially bow out of office on November 20, 2014.
He said that the NJC had allegedly placed the three serving Chief Judges of the affected states on a watch list since reports of their alleged role in the recent impeachments exercise by the states Houses of Assembly got to the council.
Nigerian pilot Sunday can report authoritatively that the NJC had queried the affected chief Judges of the affected states for allegedly been partisan in the entire exercise.
Impeccable sources also confided in this paper that the National Judicial council, NJC under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mariam Aloma Mukthar had received some petitions against some senior judicial officers particularly three serving chief judges for alleged abuse of office and been partisan.
Adamawa state House of Assembly had barely five months ago impeached the embattled former governor of the state, Murtala Nyako, followed by the attempt to impeach the Nasarawa state governor, Tanko Al-Makura by the state Assembly, which eventually failed.
Not satisfied, the lawmakers petition the state Chief Judge Justice Suleiman Dikko before NJC for allegedly been partisan in the entire exercise.
Apart from Adamawa and Nasarawa states, the Enugu state House of Assembly also recently impeached the former deputy governor of the state, Sunday Onyebuchi in a controversial circumstance for allegedly refusing to represent the governor on official function and also rearing chicken in the government House.
According to the source, ‘’owning to time constraint the outgoing CJN, may likely not decide on the cases before she officially bows from the bench in November 20,2014, hence the onus lies on the incoming CJN to expressly address pending petitions especially those involving the three top judicial officers.”