PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – The Rivers State Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has refuted claims made by retired Chief Magistrate Ejike George, asserting that his resignation was not related to the political developments in the state but was instead the result of disciplinary action.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, by Blessings Vic-Jumbo, the acting secretary of the JSC, the commission set the record straight, clarifying that George’s departure from service was due to his prolonged absence without official leave.
The JSC’s response comes after George, in a letter dated Friday, April 11, 2025, stated that he had resigned following the appointment of a “quasi-military administration” in Rivers, referencing the controversial suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the subsequent appointment of a sole administrator by President Bola Tinubu.
The JSC countered George’s narrative, asserting that he had been compulsorily retired on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, due to his failure to return to work for over a year.
According to the commission, George had been absent without official leave from Friday, August 25, 2023, to December 2024, and after a judiciary panel’s investigation, he was given the option to retire voluntarily.
However, after missing the deadline to do so, he was formally retired.
“The above event has no nexus whatsoever with current political happenings in the state,” Vic-Jumbo stated in the commission’s release.
The statement also described George’s attempt to link his exit from the judiciary with the political situation as a “contrived falsehood” aimed at misleading the public and garnering undue sympathy and attention.
The Rivers JSC’s clarification comes at a time of heightened political tension in the state, following the declaration of a state of emergency and the appointment of a sole administrator to manage the state’s affairs.
Despite these political changes, the commission emphasized that George’s resignation was entirely due to internal matters within the judiciary, rather than any external political influence.
