The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Justice John Tsoho, has officially replaced Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo, who was suspended for one year by the National Judicial Council (NJC), and redeployed four other judges across various divisions.

According to a statement released on Sunday by Dr. Catherine Oby Christopher, the Director of Information of the Court, Justice M.G. Umar has been moved from the Enugu judicial division to Abuja to take over Justice Ekwo's court with immediate effect.

The four other judges affected by the redeployment include Justice Tijjani Garba Ringim, transferred from Gombe division to Yola division; Justice M.T. Segun-Bello, from Abakaliki division to Enugu division; Justice Bala Khalifa-Mohammed Usman, from Yola division to Awka division; and Justice Amina Aliyu Mohammed, from Awka division to Gombe division.

The statement directed all affected judges to deliver pending judgements in their current stations within the shortest possible time before assuming duties at their new posts.

Additionally, judges currently resident in the Abakaliki and Katsina judicial divisions have been instructed to handle all pending and newly instituted cases in their respective divisions until further notice.

The Chief Judge clarified that cases previously pending before Court No. 5 in the Abuja judicial division, which was presided over by the suspended Justice Ekwo, will now be handled by Justice Umar. Consequently, litigants and counsel have been advised that there is no need to apply for reassignment of these cases.

While no specific reason was provided for the redeployments, they come in the wake of Justice Ekwo's one-year suspension by the National Judicial Council.