Lagos requires N3.5bn to hire 44 more judges – AG
Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, has said that the state requires N3.5 billion for the appointment of 44 judges of the High Court of the state to increase the number of judges in its judiciary to 100. Mr Kazeem stated this in Lagos at the Bar and Bench forum […]
Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, has said that the state requires N3.5 billion for the appointment of 44 judges of the High Court of the state to increase the number of judges in its judiciary to 100.
Mr Kazeem stated this in Lagos at the Bar and Bench forum organised by the state judiciary to mark the 2017/2018 legal year and the golden jubilee of the state judiciary.
He said the state is aware of the needs of the judiciary, but will need not less than N2.5 billion to provide houses and vehicles for 44 judges. Besides, the state will need an additional N1 billion to enhance their emoluments as it has consistently done since 1999.
The AG was responding to calls of senior lawyers for the government to appoint more judges to reduce the workload of judges.
The keynote speaker at the occasion, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) compared the state workload to that of the Federal High Court which has 3,963 cases filed before it between 2015 and 2017, yet it has 100 judges.
“Lagos State is by far the busiest judiciary in Africa; perhaps apart from South Africa, meaning that it is busier than the judiciary of any other nation in Africa,” he said.
Olanipekun gave the statistics: “In 2015, 3,447 civil cases and 337 criminal ones were filed in Lagos High Court, making a total of 3,784; in 2016, the number increased significantly to 3,636 civil cases, and 636 criminal cases, making a total of 4,272 cases.”
“From January to October 4, 2017, 2,805 civil cases and 743 criminal cases have been filed, making a total of 3,548 cases recorded thus far, while the number will increase exponentially before the year runs out,” Olanipekun stated.