Kogi state acting chief judge, Justice Henry Olusiyi, has commended journalists in the country for their stabilising role in ensuring an egalitarian society, saying no nation can move forward without a vibrant, robust and virile press.
Justice Olusuyi, who stated this while receiving members of the judiciary correspondents in his office in Lokoja, solicited for support and cooperation of the media in his determined efforts to move the state judiciary to another level.
He assured that conducive atmosphere would be provided for journalists covering the judiciary, to enable them carry out their assignments effectively.
He decried the scourge of coronavirus pandemic, saying it has seriously slowed down the administration of criminal justice system in the country.
He said the state judiciary was poised to confront the challenges head-on, to ensure that the society does not suffer as a result of the current reality on our hands.
He expressed the commitment of the state judiciary to work in tandem with the Nigerian Correctional Services with a view to ensuring that criminal matters do not suffer unnecessary delay, thereby affecting the administration of justice in the state.
The acting chief judge revealed that as a way of decongesting the correctional centres, non custodian sentences, like community services as punishment, can be seriously considered, especially on non capital offences, so as to ensure that criminality can be effectively checked in the society.
He disclosed that the state judiciary was poised to digitalise filing of processes, through information and communication technology, without necessarily coming to court registry, with a view to ensuring better service delivery.
While commending Governor Yahaya Bello for his concerted efforts in taking the state to higher heights, through effective administration of justice, the legal luminary said the effort would go a long way in checking the rising wave of criminality in the state.
“Governor Bello has assured of his readiness to provide all that was needed to ensure that judicial officers effectively discharge their duties, as enshrined in the constitution and such gesture would no doubt, go a long way in checking rising wave of criminality.”
