The chief judge lamented that out of over N300 million approved budget for the judiciary for 2015, only N20,960,000 had so far been released to the judiciary. He described as a fundamental error the omission of rule of law in Obiano’s pillar of development, which is anchored on agriculture, trade and commerce, oil and gas and industrialisation with their various enablers. According to him, “let the rule of law be added as one of the pillars and the enablers will be the erection of infrastructure for the dispensation of justice, coupled with the systematic funding of the judiciary to enable training and retraining of the requisite manpower.” While speaking on the theme: ‘The Judiciary in Nigeria: The weakest Yet The strongest Arm of Government’, guest speaker at the event, Miannaya Aja Ese (SAN), identified judges appointment, disobedience of court orders by the executive, delay in justice delivery, legislative interference, poor funding of the judiciary, executive interference, corruption and lack of financial autonomy, especially at the state level as perceived weaknesses of the judiciary. She cited several cases where the judiciary had excelled as the strongest arm of the government. Stressing the importance of the judiciary in the society, Miannaya stated that Judiciary was critical to the maintenance of good governance and a just society. She further noted that the judiciary provides necessary checks and balances needed to keep the executive and legislative arms of government on track. Mrs Miannaya expressed optimism that the judiciary will continue to rise to the challenges of justice delivery in Nigeria, noting that the issue of adequate funding could be addressed through the help of the National Judicial Commission. Responding, Obiano, who also received the chief judge’s award for his infrastructural development in the judiciary sector, commended the judges in Anambra State and the entire judiciary for carrying out their lawful responsibilities without fear or favour. By: Francis Ekpone National Mirror News]]>