Wike swears-in Daisy Okocha as new Rivers chief judge

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Monday swore in Daisy Okocha as substantive Chief Judge of Rivers State, after earlier attempt for her to assume the state’s top judiciary position crashed during the immediate past administration of Chibuike Amaechi, following a strong misunderstanding between former governor Amaechi and Okocha.

The raging misunderstanding between former governor and Daisy Okocha, who was to become the new state Chief Judge, produced an unending drama that snowballed into the suspension of Rivers judiciary by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and closure of all courts in the state for upwards of a year. A subsequent strike by judiciary workers also added more insult into the injury.

The climax of the judicial impasse in the state was the absence of a substantive Chief Judge to swear-in Wike as governor of Rivers State on May 29, 2015, leading to the NJC intervening by drafting in the Chief Judge of neighbouring Bayelsa State to perform the function.

Okocha, who has few months to serve before she retires from the judicial service, is being sworn-in by Governor Wike, whose administration opened up the state’s courts only months ago.

In November 2015, the Rivers State government said the NJC recommended the extension of the appointment of Daisy Okocha as the acting Chief Judge of the state, from December 1, 2015 to January 15, 2016.