Gov. Ambode Pledges Continued Support for Lagos Judiciary
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has pledged that his administration will continue to support and partner with the Lagos State Judiciary.
Ambode made the pledge yesterday, at the special service for the opening of the Lagos State Judiciary 2018/2019 Legal Year, held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina Lagos.
In a short speech, Ambode said: "As we begin another judicial year, I assure you of my continued support and partnership. Our administration recognises the separate but interwoven roles, of the three arms of government. And part of our own commitment to a lawful and orderly society, is to respect the limit of those constitutionally defined limits. This, we have always done.
"One of the cardinal policies of our government, has always been the enthronement of law and order. Today, I stand a happy man, knowing we delivered on those promises.
"The increased workload and the number of cases in our courts, necessitated the appointment of more Judges and Magistrates."
Earlier, the Bishop of the Lagos, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Dr. Humphrey Bamisebi Olumakaiye, in a short sermon titled "The Unchanging God in Changing Times", admonished the Judiciary to follow the path of truth, justice and righteousness.
Olumakaiye further charged Lagos State Judges, as well as other judiciary staff, not to depart from the path of integrity and discipline.
On her part, Lagos State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Opeyemi Oke, reeled out the achievements of her administration, disclosing that the statistics of cases disposed of by the Lagos State Judiciary, between October 2017 and September 2018, is a total number of twenty three thousand, nine hundred (23,900).
According to Justice Oke, the Backlog Elimination Programme, aimed at getting rid of old cases, was part of the means devised by the State Judiciary, to conquer the challenge of backlog of cases.
She stated that creation of two new divisions of the High Court, Economic/Finiancial Crime Division and Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Division, is one of the major things put in place to move the Judiciary forward.
"To ensure that our prison is adequately decongested, we embarked on a series of prison visits, at the various prisons in Lagos State.
"The digitalisation of the Private Registries in the State of Lagos Judiciary, as well as facilitation of the amendment of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules, and the increase in the number of Judges for Lagos State to 120.”
The Chief Judge also took disciplinary action against erring staff of the Judiciary, who were found guilty of corruption allegations, as a way of showing her administration’s zero-tolerance for corruption.
She thanked the Lagos State Governor and the entire people of the State, for their support at the new legal year ceremony.