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Judicial staff to blame for corruption in Judiciary – Kwara NBA Chairman Gambari
The chairman of the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Barrister Kamaldeen Gambari, asserted that the prevalence of corruption among the staff of the judiciary has been responsible for the inadequacies of the judicial system in the country.
Gambari made this remark during an interaction with journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. He alleged that both legal practitioners and litigants are at the mercy of some staff of the judiciary who exploit both parties.
Gambari, however, noted that there are some who perform their duties diligently among the judiciary staff without corrupt tendencies and assured that the NBA is doing its best to resist them.
In his words: “The exploitation is so endemic that legal practitioners and the litigants can hardly do anything free without some segment of these staff making some unholy demands either from the legal practitioners or the litigants.
“Every time they do this, as a Bar, we try to resist them, yet we have not achieved the intended result. We shall put this corruption tendency before the new acting Chief Judge, Justice Abiodun Ayodele Adebara when he resumes office properly.”
Reacting to the alleged partisanship of some judges in politics, the NBA chairman argued that any judge who knows his onions, bearing in mind the codes of his office, will be cautious of his action as the ethics of the profession negates such action.
He described such actions as a disservice to the judiciary and capable of bringing their offices to disrepute.
Gambari said: “The ethics of their office prohibits that; if any one of them is found involved in that, it will be unfortunate, it is a great disservice to the judiciary and they are doing that at their own peril because that will bring the office they occupy to disrepute.
The NBA chairman added: “If truly there is corruption in the judiciary, I can vouch that we have no corrupt judge in Kwara State judiciary, all of our judges are full of integrity regardless of who the litigants are, they don’t bow to any pressure and they discharge their duties with utmost and purest of intentions based on the facts presented before them.”
Gambari further stressed the need for the government to exploit the experience of retired judges by incorporating them into other roles rather than letting their knowledge rot away.
He said this in reference to the recently retired chief judge of Kwara State, Justice Suleiman Durosinlorun Kawu, whom he described as highly knowledgeable, full of wisdom, mentally sound and full of fear of God in the discharge of his judicial duties.
“We will continue to push to get them engaged and useful for the state, starting from the Kwara State Government up to the Federal Government, especially through the National Judicial Council, NJC,” he added.
According to him: “At the Supreme Court, we’re having a number of judges fewer than we needed and there haven’t been any appointments and people are retiring every day, the versatile ones amongst these people can be made use of to fill these voids so that their knowledge shouldn’t be wasted.”
The state NBA Chairman also dismissed as spurious the claim of conflicts between the two units that make up the justice system, namely the Bar and the Bench, saying: “There should not be any conflict between the Bar and Bench as the two are like Siamese twins, we are conjoined from the start.”
He noted that “no one can be a member of the bench without being a lawyer first.”
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Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa projected at 3.8% in 2024 – IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to rise from 3.4 per cent in 2023 to 3.8 per cent in 2024.
Abebe Selassie, Director, African Department, IMF, said this at a news briefing on the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for SSA titled “A Tepid and Pricey Recovery” on Friday in Washington DC.
Selassie said economic recovery was expected to continue beyond 2024, with growth projections reaching 4.0 per cent in 2025.
“After four challenging years and multiple shocks, SSA’s economy appears to be on the mend.
“We expect growth to accelerate to 3.8 per cent from 3.4 per cent last year, after peaking at almost 10 per cent in late 2022.
“We are also seeing inflation having been halved in the early months of this year, thanks to decisive actions by central banks.
“This includes slower food price increases, a positive development in a region where the cost-of-living crisis has been acute in recent years.”
He said further, fiscal consolidation efforts were starting to pay off, with the median public debt stabilising at around 60 per cent of Gross Domestic Product(GDP), halting a 10-year upward trend.
“ With global financial conditions easing, a few countries have been able to return to international markets, ending a two-year hiatus.”
The director said though the signs were encouraging, the region was not out of the woods.
Selassie said far too many countries still faced a funding squeeze, adding that their borrowing costs were high and funding sources curtailed.
“Government interest payments now account for about 12 per cent of revenues, more than double the level a decade ago, and official development assistance concessional financing has become much more scarce.
“What does this mean for countries? It means much-needed funds are being diverted from spending on investment development to interest payments, with consequences for the region’s growth potential and its ability to withstand future shocks.”
He said sustaining reforms would be important for macroeconomic conditions to continue to improve.
Selassie said this would ensure that countries in the region can build their resilience to shocks, generate jobs, diversify their economies, and improve living standards.
The director said three policy priorities could help countries in the region adapt to the challenges
“First, to continue to improve public finances, with an emphasis on domestic revenue mobilisation.
“This will help meet the region’s vast development spending needs in the context of scarce concessional financing and high borrowing costs.”
He said the second policy priority was to sustain the focus on reducing inflation wherever inflation remained well above target.
Selassie said the third policy was to implement reforms that enhance skills development, spur innovation, improve the business environment, and promote trade integration to secure more affordable and stable financing.
“But the burden should not just be on countries alone. Support from the international community will remain essential.
“The IMF stands ready to support, having already provided 58 billion dollars in financing to the region since the start of the pandemic.
“Let me conclude by stressing that the region is at a turning point. With the right policy choices, I am very confident that the region will ensure that this will be the African century.”
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First Lady inaugurates new Naval offshore patrol vessel
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Gov Ododo seeks FG’s help to tackle insecurity, flooding in Kogi
Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo has called on the federal government to assist the state in tackling the menace of insecurity and incessant flooding in some parts of the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Ismaila Isah in a statement on Friday quoted Governor Ododo to have made the call when he received a delegation of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC at the Government House, Lokoja.
The governor noted that as a transit state that borders the federal capital territory and 10 other states, Kogi is in dire need of improved financial intervention from the federal government to address challenges of insecurity and flooding.
Ododo said the problems of insecurity and perennial flooding could impact the federal capital Abuja and other neighbouring states if left unaddressed.
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