Lawyers In Akwa Ibom Lament Unfavourable Filing Procedure Introduced By Gov. Udom's Administration

For more than a year now, any lawyer who has a process to file in court must first of all, travel to the registry of the court for assessment of the filing fees before proceeding to the bank for payment of the fees as assessed. After making the payment at the bank, the lawyer is expected to return to the registry with a printout as evidence of payment. The printout is submitted to officials of the registry who then issue receipt to the lawyer. The process sought to be filed is then endorsed with the use of carbonated papers by another officer of the registry before it is certified fit for judicial purposes. This process can take as long as three hours, and sometimes, the whole day, especially if there is network fluctuation at the banks. TheNigerialawyer’s correspondent in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State has observed that there are no banks located within the premises of the High Court Complex in Uyo. Lawyers have to go to the Plaza area of the State or the Banking Layout at Udo Udoma Avenue or faraway Aka Road to make the payment, irrespective of how small the amount is. In a chat with one of the lawyers from the Uyo he gave an illustration as to what they go through before processes are filed. According to him “For instance, a lawyer who wishes to file a counter affidavit, without more, has to pay about Six Hundred Naira from the judiciary headquarters to the Banking Layout for payment of the cost of filing of the affidavit which is officially assessed at the cost One Hundred Naira. The same goes for processes meant for the Magistrates Courts located at the FULGA Street, Uyo. Non of the banks designated for collection of the court fees is located within the premises of the court as lawyers have to travel all the way to pay for filing of processes.” Kayode Ogun, a lawyer based in Lagos recently narrated his experience to Thenigerialawyer. He informed our correspondent that he had a fundamental rights matter in one of the High Courts in Uyo where he appeared in defence of one of the respondents. He said, two days before the matter was scheduled for hearing, he flew into Uyo from Lagos, with the intention of filing his counter affidavit and rejoinder on points of law and onward service of same on the applicant’s counsel. On arrival at the registry of the court, he was informed that he has to go to the bank to pay the sum of Three Hundred and Fifty Naira and then return with a printout. Kayode stated further that he asked if there was any bank within the premises of the court and was surprised to hear there was non. He asked if there is any POS machine in the court to enable him pay with his ATM card but he was further informed there is non. Kayode then chartered a taxi to the bank for payment of the money. On reaching the bank, the payment platform was down and he waited in the cue for several hours to no avail. At about 3pm, the bank official advised he should go back and return the following day. Kayode returned to his hotel room in extreme frustration. He returned the following day and was only able to pay after spending not less than four hours in the bank. The situation is worst at the courts outside the headquarters. In some Local Government Areas where there are no banks such as Mkpatenin, Oruk Anam, Etim Ekpo, Ukanafun, etc, lawyers are expected to travel, many kilometers to the State Capital or any other local government Area where there is a designated bank for payment of filing fees. Lawyers in Mkpatenin for instance will have to travel to Ikot Abasi, a Local Government sharing boundary with Rivers State, to make payment after stopping at the Court in Mkpatenin for assessment or specification of the filing fee. The lawyer can also decide to file at Abak. Abak is also many miles away from Mkpatenin. Some spend the whole day for filing of processes as they have to first of all travel to the court, have their processes assessed before traveling to the bank to make payment and then return to the court for endorsements and issuance of receipt. Lawyers have complained bitterly that this process is incompatible with Law practice. They have suggested that rather than subject lawyers and litigants to the above procedure, PoS machines should be provided at the various courts for ease of payment. They have also suggested that at least one or two staff of the banks should be deployed to the registries of the courts to save lawyers the stress of having to travel to the banks for payment of filing fees. Other lawyers have complained that even when they send their secretaries to do the filing, their offices suffer when a critical staff such as the secretary is absent from chambers and waiting at the cue for many hours for payment of filing fees. The situation is so bad that is has negatively affected law practice in the State. When contacted for her comment, a staff of the court, who pleaded for anonymity, informed our correspondent that it difficult to understand why lawyers, who are themselves defenders of others can allow themselves to be subjected to this excruciating and highly incompatible filing procedure for more than a year now without anyone raising a finger to call on government to ease the cumbersome procedure. The lawyers are calling on the authorities to help them resolve the challenges.]]>