Promises to create fabrication village
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has canvassed the strengthening of the judiciary to promote effective service delivery. Obaseki made the call at the weekend in Benin City at a workshop organised by the state government.
The theme of the workshop was “The State of the Judiciary and the Administration of Justice in Edo State.” The governor said a meaningful judiciary was impossible without strengthening the existing system.
“Strengthening of our judiciary system is a sine qua non to the development of the economy. We cannot pursue the goals we have set for ourselves without consolidating on the administration of justice.
“Repositioning the state and making it an economic hub would be difficult if we do not have an effective legal system to protect property rights and other legal contracts,” he said.
Obaseki promised to uphold the independence of the judiciary, noting that his commitment made the sector’s budget in 2017 to be increased by over 600 per cent. Also speaking at the workshop, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana solicited the proper remuneration of the judicial workers to build confidence in the system.
He criticised the system, which limited states’ high court judges to administrative functions and precluded them from handling election petition cases. Similarly, a former governor of the state, Prof. Osariemen Osunbor stressed the need to create public awareness for the revised laws of the state.
Meanwhile, the governor has pledged to create a fabrication village in the state to boost the state’s industrialisation move. He made the promise when he received a delegation of the Nigerian Institute of Welding (NIW), led by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s governorship aspirant in the last election, Mr. Solomon Edebiri.
Obaseki commended the institute for its achievements in the areas of welding and fabrication, adding that the state would leverage on its technologies and vocational initiatives to create the fabrication village.
While stating that the village would be located close to a power generation station to boost small and medium scale businesses, he said the state had “registered about 40,000 unemployed youths in the database.”
