Demolition: Be patriotic, fair in granting court orders – Gov Yusuf tells Judges

Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf has on Monday called on the Judges to be patriotic, just and fair and not to dance to the tune of persons with selfish interests by granting court orders that will frustrate government efforts to demolish and recover public properties.

The Governor made the call during the swearing-in ceremony of Justice Dije Aboki as the first substantive female Chief Judge in the state.

Governor Yusuf said it will investigate all court buildings misappropriated, sold, and demolished and ensure they were recovered just as he promised to complete all abandoned court complexes.

According to him, “We expect Judicial officers to be patriotic, just and fair in their dealings. It makes no sense to the ordinary Kano resident that primary school classrooms will be demolished and to create land for building illegal corner shops and when government recover the land in overriding public interest (to rebulld the classrooms for our children to have access to good education) some judicial officers would be granting all sorts of orders to frustrate government from recovering such properties. This is incomprehensible. How could any human being think that the person that demolished health clinic, or school, or doctors’ quarters in a hospital and built shops or event centre is right and the government that recovers these public assets and restore them for the communal use of all citizens is wrong? These are issues that we need to be on the same page. Our administration will expand our schools, our hospitals, and all other social amenities as well as providing new ones. Our population is not shrinking, why should anybody think of demolishing public schools and hospitals to build shops?

“One of the arduous task before you is changing the perception of some Judicial Officers that see the Executive Arm as a rival. The three arms are never designed to compete with each other
but rather to compliment one another. The judiciary is part of the government as it is the third arm of government. The complimentary relationship is what will endanger rapid and sustainable development,” he said.

The Governor added that, “At the executive arm, while ensuring the maintenance of principle of separations of power as well as respecting the Independence of the judiciary, we will continue to do our utmost best to meet all our obligations to the judiciary. All abandoned projects, including new court complexes will be completed. Court buildings that were misappropriated, sold and demolished will be investigated and recovered, and already we have taken the welfare of the judicial officers as one of the priorities of this administration.

“I urge you to commence the process of reforming the Kano State Judiciary for the citizens, through the citizens, and to the benefit of the citizens. Some of the issues that need to be looked into include: perceived miscarriages of justice, perceived unjust and misjudged cases, alleged judicial corruption, and cases allegedy money, power, and personal favours,” Governor Yusuf noted.

Earlier, the new Chief Judge, Justice Dije Aboki promised to restored the glory of the judiciary as well as enhance the justice delivery by making it more efficient, effective and accessible to all in the state.

She stressed the need for a cordial relationship between the three arms of government in the state enrich the Democratic values and bring about development of the state.