Chairman of the Ibadan branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, Ibrahim Lawal, has accused Governor Seyi Makinde of neglecting the judicial sector in the state, describing his disposition to the justice system as unfair.
The NBA leader made the remark while playing host to a team of journalists led by the chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in the state, Yinka Adeniran, who were on a courtesy visit to the branch’s officials at their Afe Babalola Bar Centre secretariat in Ibadan on Friday.
Lawal cited the sorry state of the courts, poor funding, and failure of Governor Makinde to constitute the Grade C Customary Court and Rent Tribunal since he assumed office in 2019 as some of the critical ways the government has negatively impacted the judiciary in the last seven years.
“We don’t know what we have done to Gov. Seyi Makinde, particularly in the judicial sector. He has not been fair to us. He has not been fair to us, and we are saying it.
“People might score him high in some other aspects. But in the judiciary, he has not done well. I will score him less than 20 per cent. In fact, when we talk about the abandonment of the judiciary, Seyi Makinde should get a trophy. That is the truth. I will just pray and hope that any other governor that is coming after him will do better,” he said.
While lamenting the harsh conditions under which judicial officers and court officials work in the state, Lawal alleged that the state has refused to provide official vehicles for the magistrates who adjudicate on civil and some criminal matters across the state, forcing many of them to take public transport to work. He described the development as dangerous and embarrassing.
“Imagine a magistrate who will sit in judgment against a criminal is entering the same bus with that criminal that he wants to jail. Or is it not absurd that a magistrate who does not have a car of his own will now be lifted by somebody who has a case before him,” he quipped.
Calling for urgent action to reconstitute the Grade C Customary Court and Rent Tribunal, Lawal noted that the two courts play important and specialised roles in the justice system, as they handle peculiar cases and help reduce pressure on regular courts.
He said the NBA, as a body, has made several efforts to seek an audience with the governor to present its concerns to him and take appropriate steps to address them. But the governor has refused to respond to their proposal.
In his speech, Adeniran, leader of the visiting journalists, emphasised the need for the media and the bar to work together in ensuring a just and equitable society.
He also proposed a workshop where lawyers will be invited to train journalists on how to properly handle legal matters in their reports to avoid misreading and misinterpretation of the law, legal processes, and court pronouncements.
