Lagos ---------- Worried by the poor quality of Area Court judges who dispence justice in the state, the Nassarawa State House of Assembly, has given such judges 10 years within which they must obtain university degrees or be booted out.
The House made the recommendation following the proposed amendment of the bill on the recruitment of new area court judges passed in 2022.
Speaker of the House, Hon Ibrahim Balarabe Abdullahi, said the 10 -year period granted to judges of Area Courts without degree in Law was to enable the affected officers obtain the qualifications for effective judicial service delivery in the state.
Abdullahi, who spoke during deliberations on report by the House Standing Committee on the Judiciary, Ethics and Previleges on a Bill For a Law to Amend the Nassarawa State Area Courts Law 2022 and For Other Matters Related Therewith noted that the state can not continue to progress in error in law in the 21st century.
“Going by the principal law, if it is to be implemented it will lay off some staff of the Judiciary, hence the need to amend the principal law," he said.
According to Abdullahi, “the principal law provides that for one to be a judge of the Upper Area Court one must be a legal practitioner with at least 4 years post call."
He further explained further that for one to be a judge of an Area Court, he must be a legal practitioner with at least three years post call.
“The Committee's recommendation is that a period of 10 years be granted to the affected staff to enroll into law degree programmes in order to be called to bar for them to fit in,” the speaker declared, even as the third reading of the Bill was slated for Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
The House also slated Tuesday May 9, 2023 for the third reading of a Bill For a Law to Establish the Nasarawa State Information Technology Development Agency and Other Related Matters, as well as Wednesday, May 10, 2023 for the third reading of a Bill for a Law to Establish the Nasarawa State Erosion, Watershed and Climate Change Agency, NASEWCCA, and Other Matters Connected Therewith.
In a related development, three other bills also, scaled second reading on the floor of the House. They include: A Bill For a Law to Amend the Nasarawa State College of Nursing and Midwifery Law, 2021 and other Matters Connected Therewith; A Bill For a Law to Amend the Number of Judges of the Superior Courts of Record Law 2001 and for Related Matters as well as A Bill For a Law to Repeal and Re-Enact the Nasarawa State House of Assembly Service Commission Law and Other Related Matters.
These bills were committed to the House Committees on Health, Judiciary and Environment to work on and report back to the House within a week.
During the plenary, a seven- man Ad-hoc Committee was constituted to work on the bill and report back to the House in 10 days by the Speaker.
The House also received the report of the Joint Committee on Women Affairs and Social Development/ Public Account on a Bill for a Law to Establish the Nasarawa State Social Investment Agency charged with the responsibility of Tackling Poverty, Ensuring Equitable Distribution of Resources and Economic Growth in the State and for Other Matters Connected Therewith.
