Another major scandal is about to rock the Imo State Judiciary as the Acting Chief Judge of the State, Hon Justice Ijeoma.O. Agugua is being accused of alleged involvement in age falsification and perjury.
Recall that a former president of the Customary Court of Appeal of Imo State, Hon Justice FC Abosi, was unceremoniously removed over age falsification by the Nigeria judicial council.
In the fresh scandal trying to demean the integrity of the state judiciary, the new Chief Judge, the first female to hold the position in the state is under fire following a petition dated 26th day of April 2020, written by Hon Justin Brown Amadi, titled “Perjury, Falsification of Age and Fake claim of the Date of Birth of Attending Primary School by Justice Ijeoma. O Agugua, Acting Chief Judge of Imo State” which forms exhibit 4 in the suit filed against her and five others before the Federal High Court, Abuja, by the same petitioner.
The petitioner went to court to State that the Acting Chief Judge allegedly submitted to the Imo State Judicial Service Commission for consideration as the Chief Judge 10th May 1960 as date of birth.
According to the petitioner, the date submitted to the Imo State Judicial Service Commission is in contrast to the date contained in the date of birth which he claimed was contained in the first school leaving certificate as May 10th 1959.
From the claims of the petitioner Trumpeta got, the Acting Judge was accused of changing her date of birth through an affidavit allegedly obtained sometime in November 2019.
According to what Trumpeta obtained in the evidences provided to the court, Annexure 16; which gives information about her secondary school testimonial, the document in the Leaving Certificate of testimonial of the Federal Government College Porthacourt she attended bears the date of birth of 10th May, 1959 alongside other contents. Whereas Annexure 17 of the same matter, the petitioner filed, bearing her statutory Declaration of Age with the name Ijeoma Ogbenyealu Agugua (Mrs) is in contrast with what the testimonial indicated.
Efforts to reach the Acting Chief Judge to speak on the matter proved abortive but Trumpeta learnt from a source close to her who is also a lawyer that it was a mistake from those who issued the testimonial to have used the wrong date of birth hence she went to court for affidavit adding that testimonial does not transform the age of birth.
