Why I’m supporting judiciary with cars, others –Wike – Punch Newspapers

Dennis Naku, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared that his administration will not be distracted from contributing its quota to a seamless administration of justice both at the state and national levels.

Wike spoke while performing the formal opening of a legal firm; L. A. Mitee and Company (Inata Chambers), in Port Harcourt, on Friday.

The governor in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiris, stated that the legal profession was part of the problem stalling the process of justice administration in the country because of the activities of some misinformed lawyers.

He said, “These misinformed lawyers politicise issues of justice administration and sometimes resort to legal battles without a clear understanding of the position of the law on such matters.”

Wike disclosed that an ‘ill-informed’ lawyer who did not have a grasp of how budgets function and what the role of government is in creating a conducive environment for administration of justice, had dragged the state government to court over its support for the judiciary.

“Just this morning, the Attorney -General and Commissioner for Justice came to me that one lawyer in Port Harcourt went to court against the state government. He said we have no business in building houses for judges, we have no business providing cars for judges.

“He said we have no business in building courts for federal institutions and that I have no right to even contribute to the structures in the Nigeria Law School.

“What will be our contribution to the administration of justice when the structures are dilapidated? That lawyer is saying that what we are doing is not budgeted for. Everybody parades themselves as if they know the law even when they don’t know the law.

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Earlier, the principal partner of L. A. Mitee and Co., Mr Ledum Mitee said the law firm in Port Harcourt would be a highly competitive legal chamber that would serve as a mentoring hub for junior lawyers and for legal advocacy.

The President of the Port Harcourt branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, Prince Nyekwere, urged Wike not to be weary in his support for the judiciary, which he said had enhanced the process of administration of justice in the country, even as he lauded Mitee for giving back to the society.

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