Trial of national judicial officers damaging to judiciary – Ortom

Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom has challenged the Nigeria judiciary to insulate itself from politics, lamenting the damage the trial of several high profile judicial officers in the past one year has done to the image of the nation’s judiciary.

Represented by the Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, the governor described the trial of the affected judicial officers as the trial of the entire judiciary and a wake -up call for a critical self -examination to regain its bartered image before the international community.

The governor who made this assertion at an event organized to mark the Benue state judiciary 2019/2020 legal year held at the Benue Hotels Limited, Makurdi, therefore, called on the nation’s judiciary to emulate the Benue state judiciary which he described as high in performance.

He promised to continue government’s support for the state’s judiciary and vowed not to interfere in the administration of justice in the state, but would rather continue to fund it to do it best.

Earlier, the state Chief Judge, Justice Aondover Kaka’an said the theme for this year’s celebration: “Professional ethics and administration of justice in the digital era” is timely considering what he referred to as ‘declining standards’ in the legal profession.

According to Justice Kakaan, sharp practices committed by lawyers against their clients have not only eroded confidence in the judiciary, but has also created suspicion and bad blood between lawyers, their clients and the general public, but expressed the hope that discussions during the two -day event will bring some improvement.

In his remarks, the chairman of the central planning committee for the event, Justice Theresa Shija thanked Governor Samuel Ortom for his unvarnished support for the state’s judiciary, disclosing that the legal year activities offer lawyers the opportunity to interact and rub minds on contemporary issues that concern the legal profession and the society generally.

According to her, the choice of this year’s theme is to draw attention to the gradual erosion of the tradition and ethics of the legal profession through the conduct of some of its members and how to address such problems.