Former Chief Judge of Plateau State, Rt. Hon Justice George Idenyi Uloko (OON), the incumbent Chief Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, Abuja was among six serving judges whose sack was recommended by the Justice Kayode Esho panel inaugurated by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in 2002 to appraise the performances of the nation’s judicial officers for gross misconduct and abuse of office.
Other Judges indicted by the panel were Justice Mohammed Dahiru Salleh, Chief Judge of Federal Capital Territory; R.I.E. Odu and J.U. Obasse of the Cross River judiciary, Moshood A. Olugbani of Lagos judiciary and M. D. Goodhead from the Rivers State judiciary.
Justice Uloko was particularly indicted for “abuse of office, maladministration, lack of leadership by example, and ridiculously low work.” He was also accused of not attending to judges’ problems and that both judges and lawyers had lost confidence in his leadership as chief judge of the state.
Their fate was further sealed by the Justice Bolariwa Babalakin review panel, which endorsed the earlier recommendations of the Esho panel. In a desperate move to avoid the hammer, Justice Uloko, then Chief Justice of Plateau State, hurriedly tendered his resignation letter.
In a letter with ref number CJ/3/S/Vol.IV/615 dated September 16th 2002, Uloko notified then Governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye of his intention to “voluntarily retire from active service.” Accepting his resignation, an apparently unsuspecting Dariye, in a letter dated 27th September 2002 with ref no. GH/S/E/27/VOL.1/27, thanked him “for all the services rendered and wished you a happy retirement.”
In 2010, Justice Uloko was among nominees for National Honours Award and Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) later conferred on him by President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration.
Not enough, he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission in 2012, a Commission formerly under the Presidency and now under the National Assembly with its headquarters in Maitama, and alongside 36 others were sworn in on May 14th same year by President of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly, Senator David A.B Mark, who like Uloko, is from the Idoma tribe in Benue State.
Notorious for his administrative incompetency, same reason the Esho panel recommended his sack, Uloko has further failed to reposition the Public Complaints Commission, one year after mounting the saddle. Cases of abuses of office have been reported by staff of the national headquarters of the commission.
Our sources revealed that Uloko, for instance, forcefully collected a Toyota Landcruiser Prado belonging to the commission, which was serving as an official vehicle to an ex-national secretary of the commission and converted it to his wife’s personal use and without adherence to the procurement act, Justice Uloko purchased a brand new Landcruiser Prado and Toyota Hilux, which now serve as his official vehicles. While flagrantly ignoring due process, contract for the construction of the commission’s office in Osun state worth millions of Naira was awarded to this wife. Low productivity and lack of staff motivation at the national headquarters of the commission were also reported.
Our sources further gathered that since his retirement from the Plateau State Judiciary in 2002, Uloko has never travelled outside the country but in little over one year of assuming leadership of the commission, he has been to the UK not less than four times all on the commission’s bill. As we file this report, he is currently holidaying in the UK and only expected back in September.
