Former Head Of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, Sokoto state Governor, Rt. Honorable Aminu Tambuwal and Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello have appealed that the judiciary be granted full autonomy to enable them carry out their duties unbiased and independently.The trio spoke in Minna at the opening ceremony of the training of Magistrates and District Court Judges of Niger state.The Sokoto state Governor, Rt. Honorable Aminu Tambuwal said granting full autonomy to the Judiciary will curb corruption in the judicial system.He stressed that the independence of the Judiciary is paramount to the administration of justice and development in Nigeria.I want to appeal to my colleagues on all states to grant full autonomy to the Judiciary. If we do not do that, we cannot get an independent and impartial Judiciary. For Nigeria to grow, we need to have an independent and corrupt free judiciary.We should not expect our magistrates moving around and looking for help from wherever and expect them to administer justice without some kind of bias. For us to ensure that we have a corrupt free Judiciary there is need for us to do the needful.Judiciary is the last hope of the common man and we just to everything humanly possible as leaders in ensuring that the judiciary is fairly treated. If we do not give them training and findings, we should not expect them to perform magic because they are not magicians.Adding his voice to the call for full judicial autonomy, former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, in his address, said the judiciary need to be encouraged in terms of their welfare adding that this can only be possible if they are granted full autonomy.He stated that granting full autonomy would encourage the Magistrates and Judges and encourage them to carry out their performance optimally.Abdulsalam then lamented that bulk of the magistrate courts across the country are dilapidated and in need of repairs calling on the attention of government in addressing the judicial infrastructural decay.People need to be well trained to dispense justice because without justice, there will not be able peace and what we need is peace in this country.I add my voice to that of the Sokoto state governor that the judicial work force needs to be encouraged in terms of their welfare and uplifting working conditions.Abdulsalam then commended the Niger state government for coming up with the initiative of training Tier 4 Judges saying it will go a long way in enriching the delivery of justice in Niger state.Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello said he decided to grant the state Judiciary financial autonomy in order to make them independent while dispensing justice.He said that the financial autonomy has gone a long way towards the rehabilitation of some magistrate and sharia courts across the state adding that allowances are also being given to the Judges to enable them perform their duties optimally.Bello however regretted the limitation of funds to the state due to the decline in the Federal allocation which has affected all sectors in the state adding that his administration is committed to financial autonomy for the judiciary.READ ALSO:Financial autonomy good for JudiciaryHe said that once the finances of the state improves, the state government would continue to disburse the needed funds as at when due.Bello then urged his other Governor is Colleagues to grant the judiciary in the various states financial autonomy.Earlier, the Chief Justice of Niger state, Justice Aliyu Mayaki said the role played by the tier four courts in the judicial system is enormous as they are the courts closer to the people and are more accessible adding that their decisions are felt more by the people.These Courts, being courts of summary jurisdictions, handle larger percentage of criminal cases in our state. Decisions emanating from these courts affect the Security, peace, harmony and stability of the community they operate in.The training will provide the court judges to learn new and modern way to tackle the current challenges through judicial activism. These challenges are not only peculiar to our state and as such, there is need to equip our judges and prepare them on the best global practice in handling these cases.The five days judicial training of Magistrates and District court Judges of Niger state had in attendance 80 Magistrates to enable them to be able to confront the new challenges confronting Tier four courts in the discharge of their duties.
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