Vincent Ujumadu
28 November 2008
A BRANCH of the Federal High Court was, yesterday, opened in Awka, with a special court session presided over by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdullahi Mustapha. Other Judges that sat with him were Justices D. F. Olayiwola, Dan Abutu, O. J. Okeke and G. C. Okeke.
Justice Mustapha commended Governor Peter Obi, who witnessed the session, for what he described as the governor's untiring efforts to see that the Federal High Court was sited in the state.
He recalled that the governor began the move for a branch of the court to be sited in Awka when Justice Rosaline Ukeje was the Chief Judge, but it did not materialize due to what he called "unforeseen circumstances", adding that rather than get tired, the governor, upon the retirement of Ukeje, resumed his quest for the court to be sited in Anambra.
He said he was persuaded to believe Obi's seriousness because, in the letter to him and numerous visits on the issue, he made commitment to provide the take-off needs of the court and expressed happiness that the promise of land for the construction of a permanent site and Judges' Quarters had been fulfilled.
"Today, the greater part of His Excellency's pledge has been fulfilled and I find it plausible to formally open the newly established Awka Judicial Division of the Federal High Court. I will like to say that, today, we are all making history. A history that has greatly reduced, if not eliminated, the cost incurred by lawyers and vibrant Onitsha businessmen in travelling to Enugu to seek justice"
The governor, in his speech, expressed joy at the opening of the Federal High Court division in the state, adding that, with that gesture, the judiciary has, once again , made another important move that would help entrench justice and equity in the State.
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