BENIN CITY – The Honourable Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Edo State, Barr. Henry Idahagbon has said that for the judiciary, especially the Judges of various courts in Nigeria to discharge their responsibilities effectively and satisfactorily, better working conditions and environments need to be provided.
Bar Idahagbon disclosed this in his office in Benin City, while reacting to growing calls for the establishment of special courts to try the corruption cases in the country.
Idahagbon in an exclusive interview with The NIGERIAN OBSERVER, maintained that the establishment of special courts cannot diligently address the problems of corruption, instead, he recommended that the courts and Judges should be in digital conditions against the current analogue atmosphere they work.
He argued that currently in Nigeria, Judges from the level of the Customary Courts to even the Supreme Courts are working in an unconducive atmosphere, saying that such conditions cannot deliver efficient and effective judgement.
According to him, “I want to believe that President Mohammadu Buhari was misquoted when they said that he (Mr. President) said that he was afraid of the roles of the judiciary in this ongoing graft war.
I do not want to believe that a democratically elected President in a democratic nation such as Nigeria can make such a statement and the Judiciary which its leadership practically lies on Mr. President is the third organ of government, so, the statement was translated in error.
The Honourable Commissioner for Justice, who frowned at the call for special courts, however, asked if the special courts were established, are the Judges going to be imported or one, Nigerians not going to be appointed as Judges?
He recounted with nostalgia, how judges are working without electricity, working without Air conditioners, using antiquated furnitures, dissipating their energies in handling cases that ordinarily could have been assigned to more than 10 against two to three judges.
He, however, called for the appointment of more judges, atleast even to about 20 judges per court so that the job would be easier for them.
He said that you could imagine if a Judge is handling about 30 to 40 cases, how could he conveniently handle such cases and expedient justice delivery without stress?, he queried.
He suggested that for efficient and effective judicial system, the judges and other judiciary workers should undergo regular training workshops, seminars, conferences on Information Communication Technology, ICT, instead of allowing them to exert their energies in handling pens to write judgements, noting that the delay in justice dispensation was based on the use of analogue facilities in these courts, just as he had corrected wrong insinuations that judges are lazy.
Barr Idahagbon, however, urged Mr. President to motivate the Judges by giving them a conducive atmosphere to operate.
