Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu on Monday announced major judiciary infrastructure projects at the opening of the 2026/2027 Legal Year in Calabar, saying his administration is building temples of justice for future generations.

Speaking at the Apostolic Church Calabar in his first in-person attendance since 2023, Otu said greatness of a state is measured by integrity of its justice, not height of buildings. He said the opening of the legal year is a moment of reckoning and renewal that no one is above law and no one is beneath its protection.

Otu listed five contracts awarded: rebuilding of High Court, Ikom destroyed by fire; new three-courtroom Magistrate Court, Ikom; multi-purpose court hall at Mary Slessor Avenue, Calabar housing 1,000-seater ceremonial courtroom, Judicial Service Commission headquarters and Chief Judge’s chambers; complete renovation of Magistrate Court Complex, Moore Road; and renovation of Judiciary Headquarters.

“Access to justice in a conducive environment is a right, not a privilege. Contractors are not merely erecting walls, they are building temples of justice,” he said, directing the Ministry of Justice to supervise for quality.

On grassroots justice, Otu said magistrates are the faces of justice for ordinary citizens but have worked for years without vehicles, inadequate courtrooms and tools, commuting dangerously to remote jurisdictions.

As a first step, he announced the first batch of 15 vehicles for magistrates for immediate collection.

“This marks the start of deliberate effort to end the long delay in providing vehicles upon appointment,” he said, assuring sustained improvement in welfare and facilities at Moore Road, Ikom and Akpabuyo.

He listed reforms carried out by his administration to include modernization through technology and training, full implementation of Administration of Criminal Justice Law, protection of victims and accused, decongestion of custodial centres under 2023 concurrent list amendment, ADR promotion and gender mainstreaming.

He charged judges to deliver sound, courageous judgments, magistrates to show diligence and punctuality, Attorney-General to prosecute fairly and ensure government obeys court orders, Bar to shun needless adjournments, and security agencies to honour court orders.

Otu said his administration prioritized emergencies on assumption: security, food security and energy, adding that Cross River is now peaceful with no judge or lawyer under kidnap threat and is emerging as the first destination for tourism and business.

In her remark, the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Akon Ikpeme detailing reforms, challenges and projections for the new legal announced that the State Judiciary recorded a significant increase in revenue generation in the 2025 fiscal year, raking in N152,668,171.12, representing 27.2 percent above estimated revenue.

Giving a breakdown from the Auditor-General’s report for 1st January to 31st December 2025, she said out of the total revenue, Probate alone generated N98,279,702.70, representing 31.04 percent increase, while the Magistrate Court, Moore Road, generated N10,612,900, representing 90.06 percent surplus.

The Chief Judge also announced the formal inauguration of the Governing Council of the Multi-Door Courthouse on 13th July, 2026, with the Chief Judge as Chairman and the Attorney-General as Alternate Chairman, as vested by law.

She described the inauguration as indicative of the Judiciary’s unwavering commitment to strengthening Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR, as a viable mechanism for justice delivery.

She thanked Governor Bassey Otu, the People First Governor, for fully renovating the Multi-Door Courthouse, a request made at last year’s Legal Year, but lamented that it remains empty.

“The renovated Multi-Door Courthouse still needs furnishing. There’s no furnishing there at all,” Ikpeme said.

She also raised alarm over the state of High Court 8, Moore Road, which she said has very serious structural defects, describing it as shabby and unsafe and urgently needing rebuilding.

Justice Ikpeme announced that the committee set up to review the Cross River State Magistrate Courts Civil Procedure Rules 2012, last reviewed in 2012, has completed its work and the new Rules will soon be in print.

She further disclosed that in a letter dated 19th August, 2026, the National Committee on Performance Evaluation of Judicial Officers of Superior Courts of Record commended Judges of the Cross River State High Court for excellent overall performance, noting that all Judges met and surpassed the minimum performance benchmark for return of cases for the second quarter of 2025.

The Chief Judge expressed delight that after decades of blackout, electricity has been restored to the High Court and Magistrate Court Complex at Moore Road, thanking Governor Otu for the intervention.

She added that renovation is currently ongoing at Magistrate Court, Garden Street, and will move to Magistrate Court, Effiom Ekpo Street, Obudu? Actually Orwell Street, after completion.

She also lamented the lack of a befitting hall for the Legal Year, revealing that the ceremony is being held in a hired tent because High Court 1, designed to accommodate 15 judges maximum, cannot accommodate the 32 serving, retired and visiting judges.

“I urge our amiable Governor to please see how the Multi-Purpose Hall can be completed before our next Assizes in 2027,” she appealed.

Justice Ikpeme listed the Judiciary’s projections for the *2026/2027 Legal Year* to include construction of the Multi-Purpose Hall, renovation of Judiciary Headquarters and Annex, renovation of Magistrate Complex, Moore Road, building of a new High Court at Ugep to replace the one burnt, building of Magistrate Courts at Ikom, renovation of judges’ quarters, installation of alternative power supply, provision of vehicles for 11 judges including the President of Customary Court of Appeal, and vehicles for 73 Magistrates whom she said pitiably use motorcycles to get to work.

Others are office and vehicle provision for the Judicial Service Commission currently squatting, funds for capacity building workshops, votes for e-filing and digitalization of courts, and funds for printing of new Magistrate Court Rules.

She acknowledged information that government is making provision for new courts at Ikom and Ugep and renovation of judges’ quarters.

Earlier in his exhortation, the Cross River State Territorial Chairman of the Apostolic Pastor Edet Ayi sought God’s guidance to give leadership of Cross River State the wisdom to build a state where justice is respected, peace is preserved, security for Crossriverians is important and every citizen has hope.

According to him, “Let us remember that the highest achievement is not to become the most powerful Lawyers, Judges or Government Official.

“It is to become a person whom God can trust and use to help humanity.

“May our Lawyers dispense justice, may our court defend the truth, may our leaders govern with wisdom and may our Judges judge with righteousness”, he said.