The Abia State Ministry of Justice has written to the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, requesting certified true copies of the ruling delivered on February 4, 2026, in Appeal No. CA/OW/300M/2024 — Mr. E.E.J. Agwulonu & Anor. v. Attorney General of Abia State & 2 Ors.
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In a letter dated February 4, 2026, with reference number CA/OW/300M/2024, addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal of Nigeria, Owerri Judicial Division, Owerri, Imo State, C.O. Ogwo, Esq., Acting Director, Civil Litigation Department, Ministry of Justice, Umuahia, Abia State, wrote:
“The above subject matter refers. Kindly furnish us with a certified true copy of the ruling of this Honourable Court dated 4/02/2026 and delivered in the above referenced suit. Be assured of our warm regards.”
In a separate letter of the same date, F.O. Ugwumadu, Esq., Principal State Counsel, Ministry of Justice Umuahia, Abia State, also wrote to the Deputy Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, requesting “a Certified True Copy of the ruling order of this Honourable Court made on the 4th day of February, 2026 and delivered in the above referenced suit.”
Both letters were received at the Office of the Deputy Chief Registrar, Court of Appeal, Owerri Judicial Division, on the same day.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, had on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, dismissed an application seeking to stop the Abia State Government from appointing judges in the state.
Delivering a lead ruling, Justice Ntong Ntong said the application lay against the Court of Appeal and had no basis in law. Justice Ntong also presented the judgment of the other two members of the appeal panel, Justices F.O. Omoleye and Lawal Abubakar, which he stated concurred with his.
The applicants, Mr. E.E. Agwulonu and Nkume Ijeoma Oluchi, for herself and the 2022 shortlisted candidates for appointment as judges, had filed a Motion on Notice seeking leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal against the judgment of the National Industrial Court in 2024.
The National Industrial Court had ruled that the Abia State Government should go ahead with the 2024 judicial process of appointment of judges, acknowledging it as a new process different from the 2022 appointment exercise, which has become a subject of litigation with cases pending in court due to allegations of corruption.
Justice Ntong noted that the law grants a period of three months for an appeal to be filed against a judgment, adding that an extension of time can only be granted if the applicant provides good and substantial reasons for failing to appeal within the stipulated time and prima facie evidence of the need for the appeal.
The Justice held that the applicants’ claim that the Court of Appeal refused to hear their appeal was a lie. The Judge noted that the applicants had filed a motion of discontinuance after filing an appeal.
Justice Ntong submitted that the applicants’ not mentioning the motion of discontinuance in the application implied they were trying to be cunning.
He held that the applicants also failed to prove how the 2024 appointment exercise would infringe on their fundamental human rights.
He stated that granting such application would mean perpetually holding down the judicial process in Abia and subjecting residents of the state to denial of justice.
Justice Ntong dismissed the application for lacking in merit and ordered that the applicants pay the sum of N1 million to the Attorney General of Abia State, Sir Ikechukwu Uwanna, SAN (1st respondent); Abia State Judicial Service Commission (2nd respondent); and the National Judicial Council (3rd respondent) as costs of damages.
He reminded the parties that the Court of Appeal is the final arbiter in such matters, as the Supreme Court had ruled in the past.
Reacting to the judgment, the Attorney General of Abia State, Sir Ikechukwu Uwanna, SAN, described it as a liberation for Abia.
Justices Free Abia Judiciary From Shackles — AG Uwanna SAN“The Justices have liberated the judiciary in Abia State from shackles of operation,” he said.
Over the past few years, the Abia State judiciary has not been able to appoint judges, and that has stalled the process of administration of justice in Abia State. With this ruling, the state government can now proceed with the 2024 judicial appointment process.
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