The governor of Jigawa State, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, has said that his administration would ensure only competent legal practitioners are henceforth appointed as judges in the state.
The governor spoke when he hosted the newly elected leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Dutse Branch, led by the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, who introduced the new executive council led by its chairman Barrister Abubakar Garba, to the governor.
“If there are bad judgments and they keep going to appeal and are upturned and in some cases even insult the nature of the judgments, I think it is not good for Jigawa State.
“It is not good for the quality of people that we believe we should have. So we should have good quality and sound judges that will render sound judgments that might not be upturned regularly on appeal,” he said.
Mr Abubakar said his doors would remain open for the association to always advise his government on any wrongdoing in the judiciary.
“It is you (NBA) that will look into the situation of our judges and advise us accordingly. Through Attorney General, I will be requiring for advice whenever opportunity comes up for the appointment of judges.
“Any judge that we are about to appoint and you think there are issues raise it with me,” the governor added.
The governor also thanked the Attorney-General for his exceptional service to the state.
“You are indeed a true son of Jigawa State. You have transformed the ministry within a shortest period of time, and I am proud of your robust professionalism, hard work, sacrifice, and selfless service. I will always rely on your advice to move the justice sector forward.”
Earlier in his speech, the NBA chairman emphasised on the need for the state government to review mode of selecting persons to be recommended for appointment as judges of superior court.
The association appealed to the governor to ensure only persons that are competent, knowledgeable and have appreciable level of awareness of the responsibilities of a judge should be recommended to the exalted office.
On the appointment of heads of court, he said it is also in the constitution that only competent and qualified persons should be appointed into the sensitive positions.
The NBA chairman commended his the governor for sponsoring 15 lawyers to the Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference, granted another N2 million for the Branch Annual General week which was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic but the grant was used to kick off the laying foundation of the branch permanent site.
He said the state government has become a gender friendly with the appointment a female judge and appointments of other women in various MDAs, committees, and boards.
The branch executive members also expressed their appreciation to the governor and the commissioner.
“We also wish to applaud the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Justice for his effort in digitizing the judicial sector through using information technology to track cases most especially sexual assault cases.
“Indeed the use of the softwares and e-learning to manage the affairs of the justice sector has immensely helped to reduce delays in judicial proceedings,” he said.
The NBA pleaded with the Governor to consider building an edifice for the State Sharia Court of Appeal and assist the branch in building its permanent site.
