Justice Sagir made the disclosure at the second quarter presentation of findings of court observation and social accountability in the judicial sector organised by Partners West Africa Nigeria, held in Kano. Represented by the Chief Registrar, Kano State High Court, Jamilu Shehu Sulaiman, the chief judge said the state had about 50 lawyers and 21 judges manning cases in the over 200 courts across the state, adding that one of the 21 judges was leaving this month. He said: “We have over 100 Shari’ah Courts, 80 Magistrates’ Courts and 20 High Courts in the state. A single judge in Kano State is handling 20 cases in a day which is unethical going by the standard of judicial system.” The chief judge said Kano State needed over 30 judges to enhance quick and effective dispensation of justice, lamenting that dearth of personnel was responsible for most of the delays being encountered in the proceedings of courts in the state. The Programme Manager, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), Valkamiya Ahmadu Haruna, called on the federal and state governments to provide electronic recording facilities to the courts to ensure effective record taking by judges, magistrates and khadis to improve efficiency in the discharge of their duties. She also appealed to the state and federal governments, in collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association, to carry out an audit on Legal Aid Council in the states to ensure that scarce resources in the sector were harmonized and utilized effectively. Valkamiya added that PWAN recommended that Kano State government should borrow a leaf from Kaduna State by domesticating prosecutorial guidelines and code of ethics to improve effective service in the judicial sector. The “Nigerian Bar Association should continue to take steps to ensure that its members comply with the standards of the profession,” she also urged. It would be recalled that the Partners West Africa Nigeria project commenced in Nigeria in September 2016 with 47 observers deployed to state High Courts, Federal High Court and Shari’ah Courts in Kano State and 30 others to Federal High Courts and magistrates’ courts sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.]]>