The former governor of Enugu state, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani has highlighted the numerous achievements of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu in the judiciary sector as former governor of Lagos state.
Nnamani, in a statement said it is crucial to remember that Lagos state’s diverse demographics has greatly increased the court system’s complexities.
The former Governor stated “With debatably nearly half of all Nigerian lawyers practicing there, Lagos state boasts of the biggest judicial and legal system in the country.
The justice committee of the transition working group, which was established and officially launched by Bola Ahmed Tinubu on January 25, 1999, made some recommendations that were advantageous to Lagos state as well as other states that followed the lead of the judicial reforms in Lagos state, such as Kwara, Rivers, and Enugu”.
The committee he maintained came to the conclusion that the administration of the justice system in Lagos State must be fair, effective, proactive, well paid, merit driven, free of corruption, technologically advanced, inexpensive, and appropriately resourced.
“They emphasized that it needed to be bound by the rule of law and steadfastly dedicated to defending human rights.
“The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration adopted several of the recommendations provided by the judicial committee, including:
-Eliminating corruption from the legal system”.
In order to do this, Senator Nnamani added that a number of judges and magistrates accused of corruption were disciplined professionally.
Under Tinubu as Governor, Senator Nnamani stressed that “the welfare of judges and magistrates was improved in order to provide transparent processes and foster a culture of zero tolerance for corrupt behaviours.
“Additionally, the appointments of 22 magistrates and more than three judges were revoked.
“In furtherance to these actions, a lot of efforts were put into streamlining the hiring process. The state Bar’s input was solicited about judicial appointments and recruitment done entirely on the basis of merit and the recommendations of Judicial Service Commission.
“The Commission was also charged with swiftly investigating all complaints made against judges and magistrates.
“In the area of Capacity building for lawmakers. Before lawmakers began seating in 1999, regardless of their political parties, Bola Ahmed Tinubu made sure they attended a number of seminars and training sessions conducted by the ministry of Justice throughout his eight years in power.
“He placed great importance to all branches of government embracing his vision for the development the Lagos State.
“In the Sector of Civic education for the people. Bola Tinubu assisted the NGOs and civil society organizations to arrange seminars and workshops on human rights and good governance in order to enlighten the people on their social responsibilities and support for his vision for a better Lagos state.
“The Lagos State House of Assembly also established an annual human rights day where important experts, lawmakers, and other members of the public debated the problems relating to fundamental rights, democracy, social responsibility, etc.”
On the promotion of legislation and laws, Nnamani said, “The Lagos State House of Assembly’s standing norms then permitted press coverage of its public sessions, and new laws approved by the house were highlighted on the ministry of Justice website as a measure to publicize the laws and bring them to the attention of the general public.
Listing further his achievements, Nnamani noted how he worked with the state police command to enforce the laws.
“The BAT administration upheld a friendly relationship with the police and offered financial and logistical support. Additionally, the police actively participated in the ministry’s conference of all the stakeholders on the administration of justice.
“The ministry of Justice also set up a police liaison desk to accelerate the swift resolution of criminal cases. The Nigeria Corrections department in Lagos also received regular assistance in the area of Transportation and Consumables. These actions aided the transport and welfare of accused individuals. A training session for police prosecutors in Lagos state was also organized by the ministry with support from the Ford Foundation, and at numerous police stations, the state government also set up human rights desks.
” Trial delays and congestion in the courts.
The committee proposed a revision of the high court rules and the implementation of sanctions on counsel who engaged in such abuses in order to avoid frequent adjournments obtained by the parties, which was the primary cause of delays in trial.
“These recommendations include: – Strictly enforced deadlines,
an efficient approach for managing cases, Punitive costs against counsel for procrastination or delay.
“More reasonable expenses for unsuccessful parties to cover, finall arguments from counsel must be submitted in writing, the motion’s argument should also be submitted in writing and as soon as an order is granted, the requested orders should be written out and attached to all applications for the judge’s signature”.
He noted that with the adoption of the 2004 High Court of Lagos State Civil Procedure Rules, all of the committee’s recommendations were followed.
To further shorten trial delays specialized high court divisions like criminal, general civil, probate, family, land, etc were formed in Lagos State. Judges with a focus on revenue, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and human rights issues were also deployed.
The welfare and compensation of judges and court employees reforms under Tinubu’s leadership, the senator said “the following were listed by the committee as welfare concerns that needed to be addressed because they are instrumental to improving judicial performance, attracting qualified attorneys to the bench, and decreasing the propensity for corruption:
–Renovation of current Magistrates Courts and High Courts.
–Appropriate and steady upkeep of the buildings and other infrastructure utilized by judicial officers.
–Transportation and lodging arrangements for the magistrate.
–Better compensation for magistrates and state attorneys.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu saw to the implementation of these recommendations between 1999 and 2007.
The use of research assistants by judges started in Lagos.
Law Corps members who graduated with at least second class upper worked as research assistants for judges and received a competitive remuneration amounting to N50,000 per month.
Other reforms implemented under Tinubu included:
– The verbatim recording of judicial proceedings.
– Court automated information system, which I beat him to.
– Criminal case tracking system. (CCTS)
– Establishment of a citizen mediation center, a system for alternative dispute resolution that offers a conflict-free setting for resolution. These changes greatly increased access to justice in Lagos State and other states that followed suit, like Enugu.
– Criminal Justice Reforms via DFID aided Access to Justice Program. Establishment of a citizen mediation center, a system for alternative dispute resolution that offered a conflict-free setting for resolution. These changes greatly increased access to justice in Lagos state.
This had a beneficial impact on how people perceived the situation in Nigeria generally.
Nigeria was named as one of the 24 nations that improved their property registration laws in the 2007 World Bank Doing Business report. This resulted from significant registry revisions in Lagos state as well as the class of 1999 obedient adoption of the new civil procedure rules of the Lagos High Court in Enugu, Rivers, Kwara, and Abuja.
The same report named Nigeria as one of the nations that changed existing procedural laws or approved new ones. The world bank calculated that the time it takes to enforce contracts in Nigeria had decreased from 730 days to 457 days as a result of this reforms from Lagos State, made possible by Bola Ahmed transition working group. Nigeria was placed 66th out of 175 nations in the survey for contract enforcement.
See page 49-52, 74 of the 2007 World Bank Doing Business report.
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