Abia House recommends sack of Chief Magistrate

 FOR alleged falsification of age, Abia State House of Assembly has recommended the immediate retirement of Mrs. Uzoma Grace Ukeje, a Chief Magistrate, saying that she violated laws and guidelines for retirement of magistrates in the state.

The House also recommen-ded that she should refund the salaries she was paid for the period she allegedly over- stayed in the office.

 The lawmakers further recommended to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to dissolve the state Judicial Service Commission for mishandling the petitions against Ma-gistrate Ukeje from aggrieved litigants, who claimed that a judgment she gave against them was in error.

According to the information from the House of Assembly and the state Ministry of Justice, petitions were written against the magistrate, which were not attended to by the Commission. However, when the petition was investigated by the House, it found merit in it, hence the recommendations. According to the Deputy Speaker of the House, Chief Cosmos Ndukwe, in the course of investigation, the House discovered that the date of birth given by Mrs. Ukeje was contradictory to the date of birth found in her law school and first appointment in the old Imo State.