Governors in support of judicial autonomy, says Fayemi

The Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Monday, expressed the support of the 36 governor...

The Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on Monday, expressed the support of the 36 governors of the federation for judicial autonomy in the country.

Fayemi, who noted that judicial reform remained the engine room of any democracy, said necessary reforms must be undertaken in the judiciary to promote the rule of law.

The NGF Chairman, who spoke in Ado Ekiti while receiving in audience the President-elect of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Olumide Akpata, said, “One thing that is a priority for us in the NGF is judicial autonomy. All governors in Nigeria are for judicial autonomy, but the contention has always been the modality for its implementation.

“I have met with the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad; and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, to work out the modalities for the implementation to be in such a way that will be mutually beneficial.

“We consider judicial autonomy a critical component of our democratic growth and we must ensure that it happens. In Ekiti here, matters of justice sector reform are so dear to our hearts and we are ready to work with the NBA to fast-track action on this for the sake of our judiciary.”

He gave an assurance that Ekiti State and the NGF would back Akpata to succeed and appealed to the NBA president-elect to work with Ekiti lawyers and give them a sense of belonging in the association, adding that the state had a long history of producing good and sound lawyers, who could be encouraged to become Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

Akpata, who had earlier promised to bring radical development to the NBA through the promotion of welfare packages for lawyers, said the body would not be a spectator in the task of injecting reform into the nation’s judiciary.

The NBA president-elect stated, “There will be constructive engagement with the governors so that they won’t pay lip service to the implementation. We know what judicial autonomy is and we will ensure that we get the real reform that our judiciary deserves.

“We won’t be sitting on the fence regarding this. In the absence of autonomy, what we have is an emasculated judiciary and it is the people that will suffer when this happens.”

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