Governors, the appointing authority at the state level, conduct the swearing-in of judges.
Saturday Tribune was told that it was former President Olusegun Obasanjo that began the delegation of the oath ceremony to the head of the judiciary, during the tenure of former CJN, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, just to reduce the stress of combining presidential duties with the swearing in of justices.
The current push might see President Goodluck Jonathan conducting the swearing in of the embattled judge in the face of the decision of the CJN to stick to her decision not to so do.
An indication that she might not be shifting ground emerged on Thursday evening after a visit by the Senate Committee on Judiciary to her failed to engender any compromise.
She reportedly told the senators that they erred in taking a position on the matter by passing a resolution asking her to admit Jombo-Ofo to oath of office without hearing her own side of the story.
Meanwhile, the judiciary is roiling in another round of crisis over the issue which could lead to another possible collision course with both the presidency and the legislature.
Saturday Tribune was informed on Friday by sources that strong indications were emerging, suggestive of the possibility of President Jonathan admitting the oath of office on Jombo-Ofo in the course of next week.
An unconfirmed report also disclosed that the acting President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dalhatu Adamu, allegedly added another dimension to the crisis by issuing appointment letter to the embattled judge as a justice of the intermediate court on Thursday, though she might not be resuming duties yet.
A source, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who is of the embattled judge’s camp, told the Saturday Tribune that swearing in the judges was just a ceremonial norm, which if not conducted, would not detract from the fact that the elevation of the said judicial officer had taken place.
It was further learnt that Jombo-Ofo’s camp had already taken her case to the presidency, where an argument on the institution with the requisite constitutional power to conduct swearing in had been reportedly tabled.
“The president of Nigeria can swear her (Jombo-Ofo) in and he is going to do that soon because the power to swear judges in was just delegated to the CJN,” the source claimed.
Saturday Tribune equally learnt that pro-Jombo-Ofo forces were already gathering information on other judges caught in the web of the alleged opportunistic venture of the embattled judge, but granted waiver by successive leadership of the judiciary, including the incumbent CJN.
Topping the list, according to an insider, was Justice Wilson who was sworn-in on the day Jombo-Ofo was dropped, representing Edo State, though she was originally from Ekiti State and allegedly had both states on different service documents even after her marriage to an Edo indigene.
Also mentioned was Justice Mary Peter-Odili who was reportedly elevated to the Court of Appeal using the South-South slot, only for an available South-East slot vacated by the retired Justice Ogbuagu to be used in elevating her to the Supreme Court.
Those behind the “intelligence gathering” claimed that Odili was to take retired Justice Niki Tobi’s vacant slot, but allegedly moved to the South-East where she originally hailed before being married to a South-South man, to pave the way for another candidate.
Another justice of the apex court which retired recently, Justice Olufunmilola Adekeye, who hailed from Osun State but used Ekiti state slot to the highest court in the land due to her marriage to an Ekiti indigene, was equally mentioned in the dossier.
Saturday Tribune was told that rules on state of origin of married female judges had changed in the last two years to accommodate the kind of switch that Jombo-Ofo did.
SaturdayTribune
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