Rivers State Governor has called on Judges to be courageous in order to
\nachieve independence of the judiciary.<\/p>\n
Governor Wike who made the call at a Live Television interview said
\njudicial independence would be hard to achieve if Judges are not
\ncourageous and determined to uphold the tenets of the profession.<\/p>\n
“Independence of the judiciary does not mean to have more money to go on
\nvacation. It is the freedom to attend to legal matters without fear or
\nfavour.<\/p>\n
“It is not to be teleguided on how to deliver judgement. Heads of Courts
\nmust be able to protect fellow judges instead of succumbing to
\nintimidation.<\/p>\n
“Such intimidation has gone far.\u00a0 Now,\u00a0 they use petitions and excuse of
\ninsecurity to transfer cases out of a State or from a Judge.<\/p>\n
“I have told my Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to write
\nto the Chief Justice of Nigeria that such excuses should not be
\ntolerated. If they are saying that it is because of corruption\u00a0 it is
\nfor them to protect their own.<\/p>\n
“But to use insecurity to transfer a matter out of Rivers State will not
\nbe accepted. In fact,\u00a0 we will sue any person who raises such an excuse
\nand demand proof.<\/p>\n
“We cannot operate like that. Courts sit regularly in States like Borno,
\nKaduna and Plateau where insecurity is high.
\nIf cases cannot be heard here,\u00a0 then they should close down the Port
\nHarcourt Division of such Court”, he stated.<\/p>\n
On the Edo Governorship Election, Governor Wike said the deployment of
\nover 300 policemen with Armoured Personnel Carriers to his Hotel in
\nBenin City was to provoke a shootout with his security aides.<\/p>\n
He said the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, knew the nature
\nof the assignment he was to discharge as Chairman of the Peoples
\nDemocratic Party (PDP) National Campaign Council.<\/p>\n
“They wanted that provocation to cause a shootout so that they can
\ntarget me and blame it on the crisis.<\/p>\n
“The Inspector General’s action was premeditated because of our resolve
\nto legally challenge the deduction from our revenue for the Police Trust
\nFund.<\/p>\n
“He was also angry over my intervention in the attempted abduction of
\nthe former Chairman of the Interim Management Committee of the Niger
\nDelta Development Commission (NDDC), Joi Nunieh by some police officers
\nat her residence by 4am”, he said.<\/p>\n
On the Ondo State Governorship Election, Governor Wike stated that while
\nthe fight in Edo was against godfatherism, that of Ondo will be a vote
\nagainst failed promises by the All Progressives Congress(APC).<\/p>\n
“To gain freedom,\u00a0 sacrifices will be made.\u00a0 Intimidation will come but
\nthe people should be firm to defend their votes,” he stated.<\/p>\n
Rivers State Governor has called on Judges to be courageous in order to achieve independence of the judiciary. Governor Wike who made the call at a Live Television interview said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n