Deliver judgments for posterity, acting CJN tells judges

Judges in the country have been admonished to deliver sound judgments for posterity.

The acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Mohammed, said this on Wednesday in Owerri while inaugurating the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa High Court Complex built by the Imo State Government.

The acting CJN said history would be harsh to justices who deliver judgments pecuniary or material gains.

Represented by a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Augie, Mohammed said judges who deliver judgments in the best interest of the country were guaranteeing the future of the country.

The acting CJN said, “Justice Oputa was an example of what a judge should be. He never knew that one day, a complex like this would be named after him. This is a message to all living judges that we must have posterity in mind. It tells us that whatever we do, we should remember that one day, one of our grandchildren would be reading whatever one had written and they would proudly say, ‘my grandfather or mother has done well by the kind of judgment they have delivered.’

“Posterity beckons on us not to write bad judgments today because somebody paid us money; tomorrow that person will go and your reputation will go down the drain. Your children will never want to accept that they are your children. Is this what we want as judges?”

In his address, Governor Rochas Okorocha said his administration was finishing strongly.

Okorocha said, “When I came in as the governor, I was not lucky like those packaged by the elite of Imo State. I hadn’t any support of the big masquerade politicians in the state. I came in as the governor of Imo State through the window of the masses and not through the door of the elite. But I came here with a passion and vision to make Imo better.”

“Today, we have the best police headquarters in Nigeria after the one in Abuja and we have the best prison headquarters in Imo State all built by this government and our Justice Oputa Court Complex stands tall in Nigeria today. Let my work speak for me after I leave office.”

However, the late Justice Oputa’s son, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, flayed Okorocha for spending money on airtime to showcase “uncompleted projects”, which he described as “rubbish.”

He described the high court project as a racket, regretting that his late father’s name was dragged into it.

Charly Boy, who took to his Instagram page, areafada 1, wrote, “Rochas was in his element… Imagine money wasted on airtime showcasing 80 per cent of this rubbish, unfinished project of over eight years’ period. Imagine all the people dead who were being owed salary and pension. Is it not the same Imo State I left a few days ago? A man who ruined Imo State; one can only imagine the debt he is leaving behind.

“The most painful of it all is that the late Justice Oputa’s name was dragged into this racket, dedicating Owerri High Court to his memory. Who send (sic) you? My question to my people: Is Rochas leaving Imo State better than he found it?”