A special service and court session to mark the commencement of the Federal High Court 2015/2016 legal year and Judges Conference was held last week in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital. Senior Correspondent ONYEWUCHI OJINNAKA covered the occasion.
The new federal government’s change mantra, to many observers, brings with it good tidings across all arms of government. Apparently keying into this new tune, the third arm of government – the judiciary – started its new year with renewed hopes for litigants.
The spiritual aspect
On Sunday, October 11, events opening the new year started with registration by judges and collection of their conference materials. It was followed by legal year service at Zion Baptist Church, Shendam Road and Central Mosque, Emir Palace Lafia simultaneously, on Monday, October 12. The procession of judges to the church was led by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Ibrahim Ndahi Auta, who also took the first reading while the second reading was taken by Honourable Justice John Tsoho. The sermon on the topic ‘The Judiciary in Dispensation of Faith’ was preached by Revd. Donald Yohana Anak.
Revd. Anak identified three lessons that judges should learn from the readings. He charged them to emulate the life of Jehoshaphat, a king in the Old Testament who delivered judgments with the fear of God.
“We need Godly leaders and judges who fear the Lord, live exemplary lives and stand for the truth. We need leaders to overcome the spirit of selfishness. We must imbibe the spirit of service and say no to the spirit of selfishness,” he stressed.
Dwelling on separation of powers in his sermon, the cleric said the core message is that “if our judges, spiritual leaders, head of families carry out their work with the fear of God, it would go a long way to remedy ugly situations”.
According to him, religion, in the true sense of it, and our leadership have been corrupted and our cherished values have been thrown to the wind because of alien system. He stated the need for religious leaders to re-examine their calling.
While demanding to know what went wrong in Nigeria’s judicial system, he charged judges to be upright in their rulings and live in the fear of the Lord while discharging their official duties.
His words: “Never take bribe. As you are Christian judges, have the fear of God, be guided by your conscience, Christian conviction and values.
“As a judge, do not allow sin to cover your eye. Sin blinds our eyes to the truth. Sin darkens our conscience. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to help you.”
He asked judges if they depict favouritism in their rulings.
“As a Christian judge, are your hands clean? Do you take bribe?” Revd. Anak asked, making reference to the pension fund in which somebody who stole millions of naira was sentenced two years imprisonment with an option of just N250,000 fine.
He charged judges to be fair in their judgments and never take bribe or show favouritism in their judgement but live in the fear of God.
Anak assured the judges that if they do away with all the aforementioned vices, “this legal year would be glorious for litigants, stakeholders and entire Nigerians”.
In his brief remark, Justice Auta, who disclosed that he has been attending the legal year opening sessions for over 25 years, adjudged the Lafia event as the best.
“Put your trust in God, (and) you will scale through; you will overcome. Though there are lots of threats and temptations, judges should not be afraid, provided you are on the right track,” he advised.
As usual, the chief judge presented the instrument of office of judges for prayers to be offered over it and thereafter led the procession out of the auditorium, which ended the church service.
Special court session
The second stage of the event was held at the Federal High Court Complex, Lafia, with a parade by a detachment of the Nigeria Police during which Justice Auta inspected the guard of honour and took the salute. Thereafter, there was a special court session in which all the Federal High Court judges across the 36 judicial divisions of the federation took part, with Justice Auta presiding.
In his opening speech, Auta described the occasion as an accepted practice of all courts in Nigeria, including the Federal High Court wherein it is intended to thank God for His mercy and compassion for the judges in the past year and to further ask for His protection and guidance in the new legal year.
He used the forum to say that following the passage of the Federal High Court Amendment Act, the number of judges has been increased from 70 to 100, adding that before the end of this year, over 20 additional judges will join the bench as the rigorous appointment process is almost completed.
“This will enable us to post judges to all our vacant courtrooms across the country and enhance the timeous disposal of cases.
“It is my hope that the new judges, when they join us, will be privileged to tap from the experience of all of us to improve upon what we are already doing, adding value to the quality of judges in the federal high court and with the expected result that rulings that emanate from the bench will not only stand the test of time, but will continue to meet both national and international standards,” he said.
On issue of Practice Direction Rule, which prescribes payment of penalty fees for late filing of processes, he noted that it has worked wonders, as litigants are now on their toes knowing well that it is only on very rare cases that waiver can be granted. The ultimate aim was to ensure that no party is allowed to delay cases unduly.
Auta also disclosed that the library and information services of the Federal High Court had become functional and upgraded to Docu-ware, but said that lack of fund affected the expansion of internet facility to all the divisions.
On welfare of judges, Auta stressed that it is his responsibility to see to the seamless administration of justice, the welfare of judges and staff of the court.
“The comfort of our judges with respect to their vehicles and accommodation takes first line charge in the expenditure profile of the court. I will continue to improve on the overall welfare of the judges and staff, depending on the availability of funds,” he assured.
Speaking on behalf of body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Ricky Tarfa (SAN) said that it has been a very exciting experience at the Federal High Court. He said that having demonstrated the willingness to work with the court, members of inner bar are eagerly anticipating the e-filing system. He also raised an issue whereby in most of the judgments, names of junior counsel who concluded a case are recorded in the judgment sheet instead of their principals, disclosing that the issue arose in the Privilege Committee.
In his response, Auta said that no judge can put the name of any counsel who is not in court on the day of judgment. He advised principals to endeavour to be in court on the day of judgment, otherwise any other counsel who announces appearance will be recorded and takes the credit.
Courtesy visits
The Federal Chief Judge led other judges serving and retired on a courtesy visit to the Government House, Nasarawa, and the palace of Emir of Lafia.
At the Government House, Governor Umar Tanko Al- Makura received the judges joyfully, with a request for more federal high courts in Nasarawa. He said the essence of the judicial system is to ensure equity, justice, peace and tranquility.
Earlier, Auta had informed the governor that judges have come to pay him visit as their host for the one-week event taking place in his state. He told the governor that the essence of the conference was to review the past performance of the court, make amends and move forward. He promised that the issue of cyber crime, administration of criminal justice and justice for all shall be discussed at the conference.
At the palace, His Royal Highness Dr. Isa Mustapha Agwai 1, who is Chairman of Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, urged judges to be honest in their duty, adding that Nigeria is in a very delicate situation and therefore everybody is looking up to judges to save the country.
The monarch expressed appreciation for the visit and prayed for the judges.