By Ayo Kehinde
A Chief Magistrate in the employment of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission, Ejike King George, Esq., has resigned in protest of emergency rule in the State.
The Chief Magistrate, in a letter addressed to the Chief Judge of Rivers State, said his decision follows the “recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern State like Rivers.”
President Bola Tinubu had on March 18, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy along with the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months and appointed Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas (rtd) as Administrator in charge of the State.
Rejecting the appointment of an Administrator in Rivers, Chief Magistrate George said such governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to the hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators.
Dated 11th April, 2025, the letter titled ‘Voluntary Retirement From Service’, reads: “This is intended to convey my decision to voluntarily retire my appointment as Magistrate of the Judiciary of Rivers State.
“This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern State like ours.
“My lord will agree with me that this type of governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to our hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators.
“Having put in a whooping 16 (sİxteen) out of my 22 (twenty two) years of legal practice into this Judiciary as Magistrate under successive democratic administrations, I find it dificult to work with the current setting, as doing so would amount to a tacit and naive acquiescence.
“Thanks My lord, for the opportunity to serve.”
