Shake-Up As Kwara State Chief Judge Redeploys High Court Judges

…All affected Judges to resume next Monday

…Moves to deepen administration of justice

Akin Akinbobola

The Kwara State Chief Judge, Justice Abiodun Adebara has embarked on mass redeployment of Judges across the State High Courts in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State, North Central of Nigeria.

According to a Circular dated 23rd January 2024, issued by the office of the Kwara State Chief Judge, all the affected Judges are to report at their new stations next week Monday, 29th January, 2024.

Under the new arrangement, no fewer than 10 Judges have so far been formally redeployed to other jurisdictions outside of the State Capital.

Recall that the Chief Judge had earlier unveiled plans to ensure that no stone will be left unturned to revive the ailing Judiciary that had been characterised by alleged cases of inertia in justice dispensation.

Some of the concerned Stakeholders have long expressed grief over the very slow pace of work among the Judges, with cases hanging for years without being disposed-of.

It was further gathered that the ongoing redeployment at the State High Courts was aimed at decongesting the Ilorin High Courts and create a more conducive environment for a faster dispensation of justice in the State.

Many litigants have repeatedly complained about the very slow pace of justice in the Ilorin High Courts, alleging that some of the judges have not really met the expectation of the public, as cases have been pilled up for years without determination

But a highly placed Court Official who spoke under condition of anonymity, affirmed that also blamed most of the Lawyers handling the cases of always resort to filing frivolous applications just to delay cases in favour of their clients.

He said: “What do you expect the Judge to do when a Lawyer files applications in the middle of a case, asking for adjournment for one reason, or the other, the judges hands are tied, because, if you refuse to allow such applications, the chances are that the Lawyer will file an appeal in a higher Court to argue the application, which might even take a much longer time to be determined, before you can proceed with the main suit, and that’s why you find that such applications are most often granted, just to keep the case going.”

Further investigations have also revealed that most of the Judges are yet to embrace the computer technology as they still record proceedings and write judgements in long hands

Equally challenging are the not too conducive environment for work and poor remuneration of Judges and other key Judicial workers, which have continued to affect productivity on the bench.