Legal Year: Ebonyi recommits to improved infrastructure, welfare of judicial officers 

Ebonyi State government is to embark on massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of Court buildings at all levels in the state.

 

Governor Francis Nwifuru disclosed this in his address during the ceremony marking the opening of the 2025/2026 Legal year of the State Judiciary.

 

The even was held Friday at the Judiciary High Court, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state capital.

 

The Governor stated that the arrangement was part of the avowed determination of his administration to enhance the welfare and dignity of the courts and offer its workers a conducive environment for effective discharge of their duties.

 

He announced: “We are making arrangements to ensure that across the state, we will embark on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Court buildings both at the High Court and Customary Court levels.

 

“Our goal is to ensure that every judicial officer sits in a conducive, dignified environment, befitting and proper for effective discharge of his or her duties.

 

“We will do that before we leave office in the year 2031, by the special grace of God.”

 

Nwifuru noted that his administration has greatly improved the welfare of the judges, other judicial officers in the state as well as enhanced access to justice through the recruitment of judicial manpower as a means of strengthening judicial independence and autonomy in the state.

 

He maintained that ensuring the welfare of judges, magistrates and other judicial workers was an important factor in nurturing an independent, uninfluenced and unbiased justice system.

 

Nwifuru added: “Justice cannot flourish in the midst of deprivation.

 

“Of course you can agree with me, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, that a Judge who is adequately taken care of is the one who can look any one in the face and declare that justice must prevail.”

 

The Governor enjoined the judiciary to continue to remain steadfast in the pursuit of truth in spite of the challenging times filled with pressures and temptations, stressing: “history remembers not those who compromise justice for conveniences, but those who stood firm even when the storms rage.”

 

The State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Elvis Ngene, reviewing activities of the judiciary in the previous legal year stated that the number of cases pending in the High Court before the period was 9,012 with a total of 10,625 filed cases, out of which 12, 158 cases were disposed, leaving 7, 478 cases pending at the end of the legal year.

 

He also explained that out of the 4,040 pending cases at the beginning of the last legal year in the Magistrate Court and a total filed cases of 2,448, 4,246 were disposed of, with 2,242 cases pending at the end of the legal year, among others.

 

Speaking on the theme for the current Legal Year: “Access to Justice: Present Ailments and Future Prescriptions”, Ngene maintained that access to justice has implications for the rule of law, human rights, fair hearing, transparency of judicial process, among other numerous influences.

 

He noted that access to justice to a large extent guarantees peace in the communities, social and religious tolerance, political and economic development, sustainable democracy and good governance.

 

While appreciating Governor Nwifuru for his welfare packages, and for offering the judiciary the enabling environment to operate without interference in the state, he beckoned on all active participants in the justice delivery chain to embrace technology in order to remain relevant in the scheme of things, stressing that the Ebony judiciary has remained intentional in creating the enabling environment for gradual migration to the new world of technology.

 

The Chief Judge stressed: “As we progress into the new year, we can only hope for the best outcomes in terms of effectiveness, capacity, resourcefulness and funding.

 

“While focusing on improving access to Justice, no stone will be left unturned in our collective resolve to improve access to justice in this jurisdiction.

 

“I will call on the members of the members of the bench in Ebonyi state, both low and high, members of the Bar and all personnel of the judiciary to give more attention to improving and sustaining public confidence in the Courts.”

 

The state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ben Uruchi Odo in his address enumerated the many reforms his Ministry has brought into the Justice system in the state to include giving effect to the provision of the administration of Criminal Justice Law of Ebonyi State which prohibits Police lay prosecutors from prosecuting criminal cases in Ebonyi State, among others.

 

He noted that his Ministry has served as a veritable and indispensable link between the Executive and the legislature adding that out of the many Executive bills prepared, processed and forwarded to the State House of Assembly in the year under review, 12 have been passed into law.

 

Odo admonished the judiciary and men of the legal profession to continue to demonstrate a high standard of probity and keen sense of responsibility as a means of spearheading a national movement for the restoration of regard for positive and higher values of excellence, honesty, industry and constitutionalism.

 

In their goodwill messages, the Chairmen of Abakaliki, Onueke and Afikpo branches of the Nigerian Bar Association, Samuel Ede, Joseph Nwanga and Eberechukwu Omezue-Nnali respectively, applauded the achievements of the Chief Judge and the state judiciary in the past legal year and pledged their commitments to continue to uphold the ideals of justice in the state.

 

The event was preceded by an interdenominational church service held at the All Saints Anglican Cathedral, Abakaliki.