Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor, the Hon Seriake Dickson, has advocated more funding for the judicial arm of government to enable it to function optimally.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei quoted the Governor as having made the call at the 2019 Legal Year and Valedictory Court Session in honour of retired Justice Emmanuel Ogola, at the High Court of Justice, Yenagoa,.
The Governor noted that his administration took deliberate steps to strategically reposition the state Judiciary to make it one of the best in the country.
Governor Dickson who said his administration was the first in the country to grant the Judiciary, financial autonomy, lamented that the country was hit by a crippling economic recession shortly after the bill was signed into law.
His words, ‘Judicial financial autonomy is critical to the proper functioning of the Judiciary. Bayelsa is pioneer in this area. After our government signed the Judicial Financial Autonomy into law, the recession hit us; it was a case of the spirit willing while the body became weak.”
He expressed the state government’s commitment to the completion of ongoing projects in the various sectors particularly the Judiciary quarters before the end of his administration.
He said that contractors would be mobilized to site to resume work on the edifice that would accommodate 17 courts before the end of the week.
The Governor who also spoke on the planned provision of official vehicles for judges and magistrates in the state restated his resolve to ensure that the vehicles are procured.
Dickson who commended the Chief Judge of the State, Hon Justice Kate Abiri, for providing exemplary leadership and the introduction of electronic recording in the judiciary, assured that the multi Door Court House Bill which has been passed by the State House of Assembly would be signed into law soon.
The Governor told the leaders and members of the bar and the bench that he is planning to return to effective legal practice at the end of his second tenure as governor in Bayelsa.
He said, “Our state is in transition. In the next three months, i will round off my second tenure as governor. We have some plans and one of those plans is my return to active legal practice. So today for me, it’s very touching.”
In her address, the State Chief Judge, Justice Kate Abiri, said during the previous legal year, steps were taken to ensure speedy dispensation of justice.
Justice Abiri however lamented that funding has the problem of the Judiciary especially in the execution of capital projects.