Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu says impartial judiciary is critical if his administration is to achieve the goal of greater Lagos within the next four years.
Sanwo-Olu spoke on Wednesday while swearing in Kazeem Alogba as the 17th Chief Judge (CJ) of Lagos State, saying his administration would strengthen the cordial relationship between the executive and the judiciary, without eroding impartiality and independence the courts.
According to the governor, the government would also support the judiciary to enable it provide the needs of judicial officers and discourage the people to recourse to self-help.
The governor said that the ultimate goal of the judicial reforms which the new chief judge has been part of was the need to ensure speedy delivery of justice to all parties irrespective of status, stressing that this is the only way to strengthen the confidence of our people in the justice system.
Sanwo-Olu, who congratulated Alogba on his appointment, added: “I wish to use this opportunity to declare the total support of the executive arm. The objective to achieve a ‘Greater Lagos’ would not be possible without having impartial and independent judicial arm of government.”
Alogba, an indigene of Ikorodu, has been presiding over the affairs of the state judiciary in acting capacity since June 13 before his ratification by National Judicial Council (NJC).
The new chief judge while speaking said his tenure would witness transformation of judicial arm of government, promising to create what he described as “smart judiciary”. This, he said, would be achieved by deploying technology tools that would enable the courts to dispense complicated cases on time.
JOSHUA BASSEY
