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Gov. Okowa swears in 2 female judges as CJ, Customary Court President
Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has sworn in Justices Theresa Diai as Chief Judge of Delta and Patience Elumeze as President of the Customary Court of Appeal, respectively.
In a speech at the brief event at the Government House in Asaba, Okowa charged them to ensure regular training of judicial workers in the state.
He said that judicial education and constant training of critical workers were imperative to enhance quality of justice delivery and performances of courts in the state.
He thanked the Speaker, Sheriff Oborevwori, and members of the Delta House of Assembly for their prompt confirmation of the appointments.
He expressed joy over the robust relationship between the executive and legislature, describing the house members as partners in progress rather than rivals.
“As long as this partnership is sustained, we shall continue to gain new grounds in our quest to build a smart, strong and safe Delta ,” Okowa said.
He said: “History has been made with the confirmation of Justice Diai as the Chief Judge of Delta and Justice Elumeze as President, Customary Court of Appeal, Delta.
“Rarely does it happen that you have two women heading both tiers of the judiciary in the state at the same time.
“As a state, we are proud to set the pace in this regard. I congratulate them.
Okowa charged the judicial heads to continue in the tradition of team work, excellence and exemplary leadership in the stead of their predecessors.
“As you may have experienced by now, your new positions require a lot of patience, resourcefulness, dexterity to manage the demands and pressure on your time and space.
“I urge you to continue to promote, preserve and protect the principles of natural justice, fair hearing, equity and good conscience, which are the pillars upon which the judiciary rests.
“One area I want you to prioritise is judicial education, training and retraining.
“This is crucial to improving professional competence of judges and enhancing the quality of justice delivery and performance of our courts.
“Globally, the judiciary is constantly evolving, hence there is a compelling need to regularly update and upgrade your knowledge-base and that of other judicial officers through seminars, workshops as well as court manning to build competence in judicial skills and self awareness.
“As you may be aware, the state is in the process of amending the Delta House of Assembly Financial Autonomy Law 2018 and Delta Judicial Financial Autonomy Law 2020.”
The governor said the draft bills for the two legislations had been prepared.
He, however, said the state was waiting further input from the parties to the Memorandum of Action on some corrections to be made in the memorandum and the legal template, which would be due by next week.
“We are confident that Delta will meet the 45 days window for states to pass the amendments to return autonomy laws for both the judiciary and the legislature.
“But just to put on notice that this is an amendment to our own laws because we have already started practicing both legislative and judicial autonomy in the state.
“Indeed, this administration shall leave no stone unturned to continually raise the bar in enhancing efficiency and quality of legislation and justice delivery in the state,” Okowa said.
Responding, Diai said the appointment of the chief judge and president of the customary court of appeal passed through many stages.
She expressed appreciation to all the people who made it possible, including the governor.
She further thanked the speaker and members of the assembly for the prompt confirmation of their appointments.
She appealed for the cooperation of the executive and legislative arms of government with the judiciary in handling the tasks ahead.
The ceremony was attended by the Wife of the Governor, Mrs Edith Okowa, Dep. Gov. Kingsley Otuaro and Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Chief Ndudi Elumelu.
Also present was the Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chukwudumebi Oseji, speaker and other top government functionaries.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday, approved the appointment of eight new Federal Permanent Secretaries.
The appointment was contained in a statement issued by the president’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale
He said the permanent secretaries were appointed to fill in existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.
According to Ngelale, they were appointed after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The new Permanent Secretaries are, Dr. Emanso Umobong Okop – Akwa-Ibom, Obi Emeka Vitalis – Anambra, Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi’a – Bauchi, Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi – Jigawa, Olusanya Olubunmi – Ondo, Keshinro Maryam Ismaila – Zamfara, Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma (South-East), Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen (South-South).
“The President anticipates that the new Federal Permanent Secretaries will exercise absolute dedication, diligence, and fidelity to the nation in the discharge of their functions and ensure optimum service delivery to the Nigerian people”, the statement added.
Gov. Usman Ododo of Kogi says the choice of the state as a special agro-industrial processing zone by the Federal Government is a step in right direction.
Ododo said this when he hosted a delegation from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on Friday in Lokoja.
He explained that his administration was ready to meet all requirements for the establishment of a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in the state.
The project ,which is an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Kogi government, is expected to attract significant foreign and domestic private sector investment into the state.
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone is expected to process maize, cassava, rice, palm oil, cashew, sugarcane and fish, in line with the commitment of Gov Ododo to transform Kogi into an agro-industrial hub.
The governor said: “We have already allocated 254 hectares of land in Ukpake, AjaoKuta Local Government Area for the purpose of the special agro-industrial processing zone.
“Our decision to establish the agro-industrial processing zone in Ukpake was due to its strategic location and proximity to essential resources such as water supply, electricity, gas, a railway line linking Kogi and a number of states and the proposed international cargo airport in Adogo ,which is a few kilometers from the proposed site of the agro-industrial facility.
“We wish to assure you that Kogi government will do everything possible to provide the enabling environment for the selection of the state for the phase II of the project and its eventual take off.
“This is because it is in line with my administration’s policy on industrialisation and the strong will to guarantee food security in the state through investment in agriculture.
“We are also aware that such investment in agricultural value chain will increase productivity, provide access to market for farmers and provide job opportunities for the teeming population of the state.”
Ododo commended the African Development Bank for the initiative, which he said would enhance job creation and guarantee food security in Kogi and Nigeria ,at large.
In his remarks, Dr. Bashir Ibrahim-Gaya, who led the AfDB delegation, said the assessment tour was intended to verify the readiness of states to be selected in the phase II for the establishment of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
Ibrahim-Gaya explained that the SAPZs were being implemented in 18 countries across Africa, including Nigeria.
According to him, the phase I in Nigeria, covering seven states ,including the Federal Capital Territory, has commenced.
“Our team is here in Kogi to assess the state’s readiness as a possible beneficiary in the phase II of the project, ” he said.
In their separate remarks, the State Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Ashiru Idris and Commissioner for Agriculture,Mr Timothy Ojomah, assured of the political will by the state government to see to the realisation of the project in the state.
Ojomah said the proposed agro-industrial processing facility would be supported by adequate and reliable supply of raw materials and semi-processed agricultural produce from the state Agricultural Transformation Centres in Alape, Anyigba and Osara.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government (FG) to grant its demands for better welfare and administrative conditions in public universities.
The union made the request on Friday at a news conference held at the Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU Calabar Zone, Mrs Happiness Uduk, said that the only way to avert the imminent nationwide strike was for the State and Federal Governments to meet the union’s demands.
Uduk said that the body had given a two-week ultimatum for its demands to be met, warning that failure to do so would result in an industrial action.
She regretted that the FG had yet to fulfill its commitments under the FG-ASUU agreement in 2009, leading to stagnation in salary scales and overall welfare improvements.
She said: “Government had an agreement with ASUU in 2009, which tells us that for 15 years running, ASUU members have been on the same salary scale, nothing has changed.
“We are requesting that government should complete negotiations it started with us more than 13 years ago, first with the Babalakin-led team, then the Munzali-led team, finally the Briggs-led team.
“These people had completed the negotiations and, if the negotiations had been completed and Mr President has the document, we don’t know why for a year now he has not called us to talk to us about it.
“So, government should as a matter of urgency address our renegotiation and take into account current realities, including inflation rate, exchange rate and whatever needs to go into that,” Uduk said.
She called on the Federal and State Governments to address issues bordering on revitalisation fund for public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and withheld salaries, high taxation and victimisation of ASUU members
She also said that ASUU strongly insisted on the removal of its members in federal universities from the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS).
Uduk further said that the high rate of taxation experienced by ASUU members was a result of “the introduction of an obnoxious platform” for salary payment.
“Whatever government has in mind with regards to that, it should use our University Transparency and Accountability Solution or any other platform that would originate from universities rather than the IPPIS,” she said.
She advised that the FG’s students loan scheme be replaced with grants which, she said, would alleviate financial stress on students and improve their academic pursuit.
Uduk called on the FG to stop the proliferation of universities and focus on better funding for the existing ones to improve overall standards within the existing institutions.
She also advocated for the quick resolution of the minimum wage debacle and introduction of a living wage that obtains in saner climes.
On Abia, the ASUU zonal coordinator called on the Abia Government to pay the 11 months salary arrears owed to lecturers in ABSU.
“We are not negotiating any part of that salary for anything because we have worked, taught students and examined them and some of them have graduated,” Uduk said.
She urged the Abia Government to discontinue the use of Treasury Single Account in the payment of ABSU lecturers’ salaries and address the recent inconsistency in the payment of salaries.
According to her, Government is owing April, May and June.
“Let the Abia Government leave payment in the hands of the university administrators and a platform that is consistent with the institution’s operations.
“But it can do its oversight as far as ABSU is concerned,” she said.
Uduk said that some ASUU members at the Ebonyi State University had been suspended for more than two years without salary.
“We call on the Ebonyi governor to look into the peculiarities of the problems in the state university and ensure that our members are reinstated forthwith,” she said.
Uduk said that the ongoing interface with stakeholders was to encourage Nigerians to appeal to the government to do the needful, “otherwise, in two weeks time ASUU will go on strike”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union had earlier held an interactive session with critical stakeholders, parents, children and traditional rulers, amongst others.
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