We’re building federal courts in Rivers because FG has abandoned us, says Wike

The Rivers State government has said that it embarked on investing in federal judiciary infrastructure because the Federal Government has abandoned her responsibilities to the Rivers people.

This assertion was made by the governor of the state, Barrister Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike, during a courtesy visit by the National Association of Rivers State Students from the Nigerian Law School at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday.

Governor Wike said that his administration was compelled to make necessary investments in courts under the Federal Government because they were left to rot.

He said: “After Lagos State, the next state with the highest number of litigations is Rivers State. Yet the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt was dilapidated, the National Industrial Court was non-existent, and the Court of Appeal has been in a sorry state.

“To ensure that our people have access to justice, we resolved to construct a new Federal High Court complex with six modern courtrooms and state of the art facilities. That complex will be commissioned in May.

We have proposed the demolition of the existing old Federal High Court, so that we can build a new complex with more courtrooms,” he said.

The governor added that his administration was constructing the National Industrial Court complex in Port Harcourt, as part of measures to ensure that litigants no longer travelled to Yenagoa for their cases.

According to him, the Court of Appeal building in Port Harcourt was undergoing total rehabilitation to ensure that it accommodated more litigants.

Governor Wike assured that his administration would continue to deliver on quality projects, good governance, and enhance the standard of living of the people and noted that his administration would also promote the welfare of students in the state.

Earlier, the Publicity Secretary of the National Association of Rivers State Students from the Nigerian Law School, Miss Akubueze Okocha, lauded Governor Wike for his outstanding achievements in the development of infrastructure in the law sector. Miss Okocha urged the governor to maintain the tempo of projects delivery across the state.