Jethro Ibileke/Benin
The Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Cromwell Idahosa Friday disclosed that no fewer than 21,105 civil and criminal cases are currently pending in different courts in the State judiciary.
He made the disclosure while making an assessment of the previous legal year at a special session to mark the opening of the 2015/2016 legal year in Benin, capital of Edo State.
According to him, the figure, from the case flow in the various courts across the state, comprises a total of 8,717 cases at the civil and criminal divisions of the Federal High Court, 4,605 cases from the magistrates’ court while the special courts and Customary Court of Appeal had 4,367 and 3,416 pending cases respectively, adding that 16,061 cases were carried over from the 2013/2014 legal year to the year under review.
He noted that a total of 8,668 cases were disposed off, out of a total of 29,773 cases filed at the different courts for determination, with the sum of N113, 963, 821 as revenue during the period.
The Chief Judge decried the poor structural condition of most of the courts, which he said were “in a sorry state” and “need to be renovated and out fitted with modern equipment.”
He also noted that the nationwide strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, over the non-implementation of the financial autonomy granted it by Federal High Court in Abuja, posed a significant challenge in the administration justice in the state.
He however expressed hope that the state judiciary would be grant full financial autonomy by the state government, before the expiration of the current administration.