Wike Pledges Land Allocation To Judges In Abuja, Cites Buhari’s Approval For Land Allotment To Government Arms

*Says Court of Appeal Building Coming in FCT Budget

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, said the administration will continue to provide necessary support and infrastructure for the judiciary within the territory.

Mr Wike said this when a delegation of Federal High Court Judges, led by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Thursday.

A statement by the Director of Press in his ministry, Anthony Ogunleye, in a statement, said the minister told the delegation that provision had been made in the 2023 supplementary budget of the FCT for the construction of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal building.

“Just yesterday, I went to the National Assembly to defend the supplementary budget and there we included the building of the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal.

“Before now, the president had given me the go-ahead to allocate lands to the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary,” he said.

Mr Wike stated that though the three arms of government are independent, they must work together to achieve needed development.

He commended the judiciary for its steadfastness and for being the beacon of democracy despite its peculiar challenges.

“I believe that the three arms of government must work together even though independently, and I believe that no arm of government should be treated less than the other.

“Without the judiciary, our democracy cannot survive. Nigerians are talking about the judiciary today because of the role you play, and so whatever is required to strengthen the judiciary is not overly demanding.

Mr Wike stated that he will allocate land to Federal High Court judges, but it would be done in phases.

He also promised the provision of infrastructure for the judiciary in areas where allocations had been made by his predecessors to encourage development.

“What remains now is how it should be done because the number is so large. What we have decided to do is do this in phases. All this cannot be done at the same time.

“Some allocations were done in the past, but unfortunately, some of the places are inaccessible. I think it is baseless to allocate land where people have no access—that is, infrastructure. It does not make any sense. So, we will allocate lands to you in places that are accessible”.

“If there are other problems that you think you have that the administration can help, do not hesitate to let us solve that problem”, the minister added.

Responding, Mr Tsoho thanked Mr Wike for his continued support of the judicial arm of government, saying that, as governor, the welfare of judicial officers in Rivers State became the envy of their counterparts in other states.

“I commend Your Excellency’s bias for the judiciary, and you have always seen it as your primary constituency.

“It is with that confidence that we bring the anguish of the FHC to you. The peculiarities of our job due to transfers take us to several places.

Mr Tsoho lamented that judges are denied various forms of policies that enhance the welfare of both serving and retired, since they are not likely to be posted to their states of origin.