Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu says the executive will work with the state judiciary and the Federal Government to addressing the challenge of prison congestion.
Sanwo-Olu said this was absolutely necessary, as the issue had become be a major challenge to the state’s justice system.
The governor stated this, Thursday, after swearing in the new acting chief judge of Lagos State, Kazeem Alogba.
According to Sanwo-Olu, “The current situation where over 70 percent of inmates in our prisons constitute awaiting trials is not acceptable, as it is not a reflection of an efficient justice delivery system.
“We will also not hesitate to do whatever is required to sustain the ongoing reform in the judicial sector, so the desired result of ensuring that the wheel of justice rolls as fast as it could, will be achieved.”
The governor stated that his administration would embark on the review of the state’s judiciary, noting that the three arms of government must form a synergy for the development of the state. He also promised to continue with judicial reforms in the state.
‘‘We are all partners in progress. We must continue to work together to deliver the good for the teeming Lagos populace. This is what governance is all about,” he said.
Congratulating the new acting chief judge, he expressed confidence in his capacity to continue on the path of progress that had been created in the state judiciary since the beginning of the Fourth Republic.
Speaking, Alogba promised to exercise the powers of his office conscientiously for the good of the common man and the furtherance of the administration of justice in Lagos State.
Alogba suggested that traffic and environmental offenders should henceforth serve their sentences at the point where the offences were committed. No one likes to wear a toga of an ex-convict, so community service or some other forms of punishment should be handed to offenders at the point of contravention, he said.
