Niger Govt. Spends N50m On Renovation Of Courts

The Niger State newly appointed Chief Judge(CJ), Justice Maria Dzukogi, says about N50 million has been spent to refurbish various courts across the state.Dzukogi said this on Tuesday shortly after the State House of Assembly confirmed her appointment as the new Chief Judge of the state.Dzukogi replaced the former CJ, Justice Fati Abubakar, wife of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, a former military head of state, and an in-law of Gov. Sani Bello of Niger.Dzukogi said that seven courts had been renovated since the inception of the present administration, adding that the plan was to give all the courts a face lift.So far seven courts in Minna, Suleja and Agaie have been given a new facelift and the idea is to extend the renovation to all the courts in the state.We expect the continuation of the rehabilitation of our decayed infrastructure, especially, court buildings across the state, she said.Dzukogi said that the new dispensation would also ensure quick dispensation of justice, adding that a performance evaluation of judges in the state was ongoing.On the issue of congestion in prisons, she tasked the police and other relevant stakeholders to play their parts.Judges do not congest prisons, the problem lies with the prosecution because if you bring a case and you prosecute it on time, it will be disposed of; but if you dont, the case remains.The police, the ministry of justice and the judges all need to sit up and work toward a speedy delivery of justice in order to decongest our prisons, she said.NAN reports that the state assembly had asked Dzukogi to take a bow when she appeared before it.The assembly, thereafter, unanimously confirmed her appointment as the states new Chief Judge.Dzukogi, born on Jan. 27, 1954 and hailed from Paiko, had been holding the position in acting capacity since April. (NAN)
Click here to read full news..