Sometimes last week Lagos State Judiciary sent out circulars that all court generators will be put on 10am & put off 2pm Mondays to Thursdays while it will be put off 1pm on Fridays.
Honestly I am saddened by this sad development in our courts in Lagos which to me is an assault on the 3rd arm of govt and masses.
My question is _is this how light is rationed at the Lagos State House of Assembly complex or Lagos State Governor’s/Deputy Governor’s offices?_ Why should the Judicial arm of govt be the bearing the brunt always?
You put off gen at 2pm, the judges & Magistrates with their rulings, trials, judgment and administrative work should do what from 2pm? Close and go home? Come back tomorrow and meet the backlog?
Hundreds are awaiting court dates, several people’s freedom are hinged on a functional justice system and is this how the judiciary will live up to that expectations?
You say autonomy for the the judicial arm of govt is this a dividend of this autonomy or it’s a lip service autonomy?
One would’ve expected that the judiciary should be treated like a critical part of our economy that it is and for that a dedicated electricity system should be accorded the court system so the judiciary is not in anyway undermined by any irresponsible act or conduct of other sectors.
Lagos Judiciary telling us that the court system will shut down at 2pm and we look the other way as if it does not affect us when it’s our workshop that is being shut down right under our noses. If putting off power at 2pm is not shutting down the court then what is it? Have you seen any high Court function without light in Lagos?
Litigants pay premium as filing fees and equally pay lawyers and coming to court you see idleness because there’s no light yet you discourage self help.
We as stakeholders in the judicial sector will need to demand for answers from the Governor of Lagos State and the Chief Justice of Lagos why the systematic shut down of courts from 2pm over diesel thereby denying litigants who had paid the required fees to the judiciary for their matters to be heard and who expects justice to be done and not denied.
We are gradually turning our courts into the *poor man’s nightmare* instead of the poor man’s last hope.
Every now and then our political class travel out to source for foreign direct investment yet an investor will be wary of investing in an environment where the judicial system is bugged down so much that an investment is no longer protected.
This 2.00pm arrangement is ill advised and must be reversed. Whatever it’s taking for Lagos House of Assembly & Governor’s Offices to be running must be applied to our court rooms and Chambers today, not tomorrow, not next tomorrow.
Philips Njeteneh,
#JUSTMINDINGMYBUDINESS
