A justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Amina Augie, has described the late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa as a great judge.
Speaking on Wednesday during the inauguration of the Justice Oputa State High Court Complex in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Augie said Oputa during his reign was able to interpret the law and put in into clear words.
“When you walk in and also see the name of the complex, Honourable Justice Oputa complex, he is one of the greatest jurists that we have.
“Till today, if I am right in any judgment, I still rely on him with any judgement I write because he really was a great jurist.
“He has the words, he was able to capture the law. He was able to explain it, he was able to put it into clear words,” she stated amid applaud from the gathering.
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According to Justice Augie, being a judge is indeed a herculean task owing to the demands of the profession.
She explained that judges would attest to her claim, stressing that “as you are eating, as you are sleeping, whatever you are doing you are writing the judgement in your head. You are looking at the law, you are applying it to the fact and you are trying to find a way to do what is just.”
While admonishing judges to strive for integrity, she asked her colleagues to learn from the virtues of the late Justice Oputa by shunning bribes while delivering judgements.
The Oputa Complex was built by the administration of the outgoing Governor Rochas Okorocha in honour of the renowned Justice Oputa who before his retirement in 1989 was a Supreme Court Judge in 1984.
