Judicial Workers in Edo Beg Govt for a Better Working Environment

As Edo State judicial workers mark 2017/2018 legal year, the chief judge, members of the bar and other judiciary workers agitate for a better working environment,Titus Akhigbe write

Few weeks ago, Edo State judiciary commenced a new legal year with great expectations from both the bar and the bench.

At a ceremony to mark the new legal year, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Esohe Ikponmwen assured that the 2017/2018 legal year would not be business as usual.

The “no-nonsense’ chief judge was optimistic that sanity and discipline would be restored to the state judiciary in the coming days without fail.

The vision of the chief judge for the 2017/2018 legal year is to achieve ‘a corrupt free judiciary’.

According to her, “It’s hoped that the menace of corruption will be eradicated in all facets of the judiciary. We shall have zero tolerance for any act of corrupt practice”.

The chief judge noted that the office of the chief inspector of courts has been strengthened to ensure anyone caught in the act is prosecuted.

Justice Esohe Ikponmwen named the duties of the office of the inspector of courts to include receiving, checking and investigation of complaints bordering on corruption

such as bribe taking by staff before processing bail applications, filing of court processes and demanding gratification before performing official duties, affidavit racketeering.

The office is also charged with the responsibility to ensure that all revenue collected by the various court registries across the state is promptly treasury.

The chief judge said “I have directed that the magistrates and the area customary court presidents must deliver judgments within three months of adoption of written addresses

or delivery of oral address in court by counsel failing which disciplinary action will be taken against such erring judiciary official lazy judicial officers will be made to sit up or pack up”.

For the chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch, Barrister Ede Aseneguen, is calling for a renewed vigour and determination to do better and improve on the justice delivery process.

“The fact must be mentioned that for us at the Bar the foremost challenge in the Edo State Judiciary remains that of financial autonomy.

We have insisted and we shall continue to insist that, Financial Independence must be granted to the Edo State Judiciary like some states have done in line with the Constitutional Provision.

We are not unaware of the fact that this present Governor and Government seem to have taken the issue and development of the Judiciary very seriously as can be seen from the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary in its very first budget.

We believe that its full implementation will certainly take the Judiciary some steps forward.

However, our insistence is based on the fact that judicial Autonomy must be a systemic entrenchment and therefore not subject to the whims and caprices of the Chief Executive of the State.

Governor Godwin Obaseki may be like the proverbial pharaoh that knew Joseph, certainly without a systemic entrenchment of the financial autonomy of the Judiciary in the State, when a pharaoh that knows not Joseph shall come then we are back to the dark ages. God forbid.

It is therefore our call on the Governor of the State, the Speaker and Members of the Edo State House of Assembly to rise up and write their name in gold in the annals of judicial history and posterity by ensuring that this feat is achieved during their time”.

Corruption in the judiciary has become major discourse in our country today. It is therefore unimaginable that in an occasion like this mention should not be made about his cankerworm which threatens the integrity and respect for our judiciary.

On the issue of corruption in the Edo State Judiciary, we are happy to note that we are unaware of any Judge in the Edo State judiciary that is engaged in this devilish practice. We commend the Chief Judge whose image and stance of a no-nonsense Chief Judge speaks volumes.

We are keeping a close watch on our judicial officers and we shall not be quiet if we have any verifiable reason to confront any of our Judicial Officers.

I can assure you that we would rather engage in self cleansing than to be embarrassed from Abuja. I therefore wish to encourage our Judges, Magistrates and Area Court Presidents to continue to live above board and to dispense justice according to law and good conscience.

we want to thank you for your understanding and commitment that it is a sine quo non that the justice system in the State must be of a first class standard to be able to attract the kind of Investment that you desire to bring to our dear State.

You have stated again and again that you place premium on seeing a very efficient, effective and speedy justice delivery system that is second to none in Edo State. We thank you immensely for identifying this and working towards it.

We wish to place on record that the ministry of justice has a very critical role to play in this regard. They prosecute and defend on behalf of the state. It is therefore critical that officers in this department are well motivated if government must achieve the desired result.

Notary Public, Barrister Olayiwola Afolabi
We have to thank the new justice of the federation, Justice Walter Onoghen for the new methods he has introduced and he has set up a committee headed by Justice Salami to check corrupt related matters.

It is a welcome development and it has never been done before, so I commend him. As lawyers, we’re on oath to ensure that we don’t delay cases.. Not only lawyers, some judges also do. It’s on record that some courts don’t sit.

while some sit regularly. They have to be commended while others should be warned to ensure they sit and up and doing.

As a lawyer, I expect the best in this legal year. With the emergence of the new chief judge, Justice Esohe Ikponmwen since she came on board, the high court has undergone serious changes before, magistrate would not sit over complaints of non availability of diesel in their generators.

Those logistics have been resolved by this administration. Now, the toilets in the state high courts that were hitherto inaccessible have been fixed.

Barrister Osaretin Dickson Airhenbuwa
Our expectation for the new legal year is high. I expect new practice guidelines, new practice direction, activities in the courtroom and promises for better deal for litigants.

Now we are into real front loading mechanisms in law practice. You observe that in the last national conference of NBA, the general thing we were given is the tablet.

Tablet means existing on the platform of the net internet super highway is what’s in vogue.. We now sign contract on net, offer businesses on net.

We file processes on net. I can be at the comfort of my office and file processes. These are new beginnings so the new legal year spells a new beginning, a new way of life in the super high way.

We’re expecting that a situation where there are allegations of corruption in the legal profession is going to be banished by virtue of the fact that the chief justice of the federation Onoghen has just sworn in a probe panel consist of incorruptible judge to probe some judges who were accused of corruption until those cases are investigated

and the report comes out, you can’t actually point accusing fingers but the legal profession is a self healing profession so were expecting that it’s going to be better deal, better performance of judiciary which of course is an important organ of government.

Chairman of Judiciary Workers, Edo state, Uyi Ogierhiakhi
This legal year will bring so much to judiciary workers. We expect that government grant full financial independence, the judiciary is one important arm of government you cannot undermine when it comes to democracy.

And the only way the judiciary can function effectively without any form of interference, is to give judiciary financial autonomy so that the system can work.

We embark upon a strike action in the last legal year, called by the national body of JUSUN, as a result of that our staff were deprived of their salaries for seven months. We hope that the cry of the workers to make the system work will be heard by government soon.

The purpose of that strike was to make the system work. We hope that 2017/2018 legal year will bring the seven months of our workers salaries back.

All the paper work being done by judiciary are done by members of our union after judgments have been delivered, the implementation of those judgments is being done by JUSUN members and if you want them to perform effectively well, they should be seen being given their entitlements.

So we are expecting so much and we hope that the new CJ that just came on board in the judiciary with her approach. The judiciary is an arm of government that we think this time should be seen working..