Lagos Judiciary Staff Swears Oath of Secrecy, Allegiance
As part of efforts geared towards ensuring efficient, effective and transparent service delivery in Lagos State Judiciary, the entire members of judicial staff, were last week made to swear oath of secrecy and allegiance.
The Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke, had during the New Legal Year Church Service, said that as part of her administration’s reform, all judicial staff would be mandated to sign oath of secrecy.
Keeping to her promise, the Chief Judge flagged off the four-day oath taking exercise, which took place simultaneously at the Conference Rooms of the Ikeja High Court and Igbosere, between January 2 and 5, 2018.
Flagging off the exercise last Tuesday, the Chief Judge said the same set of rules, regulations and allegiance which apply to Judges, also apply to workers who work with them.
She said it is now imperative for supporting staff, to know that they are bound by the same set of rules that bind Judges who adjudicate and deliver judgements on cases before them.
Justice Oke explained that swearing to an oath of secrecy and allegiance by staff of the Judiciary, will bring about dignity to the workers in the Judiciary, such that litigants would have respect for them.
She said that the Judiciary as an institution that deals with justice delivery, has very important documents that must be kept sacred and which cannot be allowed to be toyed with.
According to her, the oath taking was introduced because the Judiciary has received series of “petitions and complaints about judgements leaking out, certain exhibits missing and so on.
“So, this is to prevent that, and secondly and most importantly, it is a way of also curbing corruption.
“When you have your oath taking, you know the implications of your action and every action also has a resultant effect. If you violate that, you know what the resultant effect of that will be”, she maintained.
While lamenting that corruption has eaten deep into so many establishments, the Chief Judge said her administration is determined to make a difference.
“It is a new year. It is a new dawn, and we want to make a difference. So it is a joint effort and it is necessary, it is a very fundamental exercise that will help the image of the Lagos State Judiciary, and to have more confidence from the public that we serve because we are service providers.
“I have a mission to leave behind a Judiciary that every Lagosian, every Nigerian, can be proud of; a Judiciary that stands shoulder to shoulder with other foremost Judiciaries around the world.
“My mission is to leave a Judiciary where litigants will come, and when you lose a case, you will be leaving the court smiling and be able to say to yourself, yes, I lost the case, not because of corruption but because I have a bad case”, she said.