By Mary Amodu- Lokoja
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has promised to accord the state judiciary the true independence that the arm of government deserves.
Bello, who made the promise yesterday in Lokoja while receiving members of the State Judiciary Commission led by the State Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, also tasked judges in the state to be professional in their dealings with people.
According to him, “the job that you do, the intricacies of which lie beyond the understanding of many a man, demand no less. On an occasion such as this, no two principles will ring louder than Separation of Powers and Independence of the Judiciary. I will settle that dispute very summarily right now: my administration will respect both principles to the letter.
“The Judiciary under my tenure will enjoy equity in the allocation of resources; will be autonomous in managing her finances and you will never find me trespassing into your official duties or capacities. Neither will I send or permit any person to do so on my behalf or the Government’s.
“Yesterday, 21 sets of Local Government Caretaker Committees took Oath of Office in Kogi State. We granted them their autonomy and promised them freedom from interference. The Judiciary does not need such assurances from us. It is constitutionally given that she has all of those, and more, as of right. What might be different now is the abundance of political will that this administration has to respect, and give effect, to those principles. We shall expect nothing in return other than that the Kogi State Judiciary be judicial and judicious in her dealings with us.
“It is to be hoped that the Judiciary will be both forthright and gentle if, in our zeal, we unwittingly trample on the rights of any of the people. We regard the Judiciary in Kogi State as a trusted ally in the delivery of good governance, the entrenchment of the Change Agenda through decided cases and the institutionalization of the New Direction Blueprint in Kogi State via instrumentality of the existing laws.
“Conversely, but only as provided by the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria alone, we trust that the Judiciary will also provide the Government the judicial protections it needs to deliver good governance undistracted by gratuitous litigiousness and malicious meddlesomeness.
“In a nutshell, we ask that you give each litigant in any of the cases coming before you his due, including the Government. On this we place reliance on the dictum of My Lord, Justice Nasir Ajanah at an official function in Okehi LGA that ‘The ultimate role of the Judiciary in any conflict is the dispensation of justice without fear or favour’
