City Crime
Rivers State Judiciary And Access To Justice
According to Black’s Law Dictionary (nin-th edition) Access to Justice is “the ability within a society to use courts and other legal institutions effectively to protect one’s rights and pursue claims.”
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) considers access to justice as “the ability of people from disadvantaged groups to prevent and overcome human poverty by seeking and obtaining remedies through the justice system, for grievances in accordance with human rights principles and standards.”
Access to justice is an important aspect of the rule of law without which its tenets become moonshine. It is the lever with which any given justice system revolves. Indeed, access to justice is so important that it has become a basic right.
Unfortunately, many governments really do not understand that they sound rather hypocritical when they claim to maintain the rule of law without access to justice.
When there is access to justice, aggrieved individuals or parties can go to court and get remedies for civil or criminal wrongs meted against them: where there is a wrong, there is a remedy.
The insistence by Nige-ria’s apex court, the Supreme Court that processes be filed electronically to engender interactions or communications between it and practicing lawyers is a welcome development. Electronic filing if properly followed, is expected to facilitate justice administration.
Again, this development is laudable as it has narrowed the chances of impersonation by non-lawyers.
It is important to note that speedy dispensation of justice is one of the cardinal principles of the rule of law. This is because justice delayed is justice denied. But the e-filing in the state has been fraught with so much delay. Filing a motion exparte as a matter of urgency has become difficult under the new arrangement.
Access to justice is hindered or denied when there is unreasonable delay in bringing issues of urgent attention to the court. Delay defeats equity and makes nonsense of injunctive remedies. Under the present e-filing regime there is an unreasonable delay in the assignment matters to courts.
Section 17(2) (e) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended provides thus: “independence, impartiality and integrity of courts of law, and easy accessibility thereto shall be secured and maintained. “
Despite the express provision of the constitution, access to justice has been whittled down by many factors in Nigeria’s judicial system. One of the problems facing our judicial system is corruption. Many judges are corrupt and justice is for sale to the highest bidder. That is why judges in different courts with coordinate jurisdiction often churn out contrasting judgments on the same subject matter without compunction about abuse of court processes.
Many members of the Port Harcourt branch of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have complained of the high cost of filing processes electronically at the Rivers State Judiciary’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) Centre and the delay it has occasioned.
The process of procuring justice must be affordable because if it becomes expensive and unaffor-dable, the aim of justice for all is blatantly defeated.
Justice Black said “there can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has.”
The cost of litigation has worsened the plight of the common man who seeks remedy for either civil or criminal wrong.
A Port Harcourt based lawyer and human rights advocate, Chinoye Okoha Esq, who spoke with The Tide in Port Harcourt at weekend said, “e-filing is causing untold hardship to practicing lawyers.”
Mr Okoha explained that the purveyors of the e-filing might have had a good intention about the process but expressed surprised that nothing had been put in place to ameliorate the hardship faced by lawyers.
He described the process as satanic and expressed shock that even the purveyors hadn’t done anything to better the situation.
The Port Harcourt lawyer remarked that e-filing was a major impediment to access to justice.
Mr. Okoha noted that lawyers went through excruciating and harrowing experience to make e-payments.
He urged the leadership of the NBA to do a feedback on e-filing to the authorities of the Rivers State judiciary so that they could chart a way out of the lock jam.
He said access to justice would continue to be hindered unless the NBA confronted situation frontally and squarely.
He expressed regret that even affidavits at the Rivers State Judiciary could only be obtained by electronic means which often delayed or denied citizens’ access to justice.
Also speaking, another Port Harcourt based lawyer, Chijioke Agi Esq remarked that e-filing had blocked valuable income for practicing lawyers and averred that NBA was not doing anything to change the scenario.
He said that it was unfortunate that the bar was suffering and smiling in its present predicament.
“Everyone knows that this experiment isn’t working yet nobody wants to do anything,” he stated.
“We are not unmindful of the fact that the bar is having it rough under this e-filing regime but everyone is keeping quiet. We can’t continue like this”, Agi said.
Today access to justice in Nigeria remains a mirage so long as independence of the judiciary is a far cry. Access to justice can only be guaranteed when the judiciary is truly independent.
Justice Chukwudifu Oputa JSC (in blessed memory) in capturing the elusiveness and hopelessness of justice in Nigeria put this way; “In his search for justice and redress resulting in the effectuation of his rights, the ordinary citizen of Nigeria is caught up in the mess of rather vicious circle.”
Unfortunately, in Oputa’s time the tumour of lack of access to justice was benign but it has grown steadily to become malignant in the present time.
It is hoped that concerted action by the Bar and Bench will salvage our already decadent judicial system and restore access to justice.
By: Chidi Enyie
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The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Department, Mrs. Elizabeth Akani, has said the State Government was set to meet up the 2030 target of the Federal Government towards the actualization of digital economy.
Akani said this at the Rivers State Sensitization Workshops on The Adoption of Nigeria Start-up Act and National Digital Literacy framework (NDLF), in Port Harcourt, weekend.
She noted that the State was ready for both the adoption and domestication of the Act.
According to her, up to 90-95% preparation have been fully covered by the state in readiness to welcoming the digital economy Act.
“Stakeholders talked about adoption and domestication of the Act, it was fruitful. The draft has been sent to the government”, she said.
She also noted that the move was in line with the digital transformation plan of the state and the country at large.
The Convener, Start South, Mr. Uche Aniche, who made case for full ICT Ministry for the state, said such will command the needed growth in the system.
Aniche stated that until they attained the lofty height, all about Tech-knowledge and growth may not fall in place as expected.
Other tech-operators, such as the Code Garden Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Wilfred Wegwu, who welcomed the idea, said it must be done in the nearest future.
Wegwu noted that technology has taken over the world at present, adding that government at all levels needed to key into the system.
He also stated that the system play major roles in various spheres of life, including relationships and collaboration.
He also revealed that the system now was up to forth Industrial Revolution (4IR), according to global shift ranking.
It will be recalled that the State Government has recently ordered to construct ICT centres across the 23 Local Government Area of the state in order to meet up the yearnings of the technology world.
By: King Onunwor
The oil and gas industry is in for a tough year ahead, as it must balance financial discipline, shareholder returns, and long-term investments in the sustainability of the business—while navigating a hypothetical glut.
The warning comes from Wood Mackenzie, which said in a new report that the industry was faced with conflicting trends over the next year that would make decision-making challenging. Among these is an expectation that the market would tip into an oversupply, pressuring prices, while the demand outlook for oil over the long term brightens up, motivating more investments.
“Oil and gas companies are caught between competing pressures as they plan for 2026. Near-term price downside risks clash with the need to extend hydrocarbon portfolios into the next decade. Meanwhile, shareholder return of capital and balance sheet discipline will constrain reinvestment rates,” Wood Mackenzie’s senior vice president of corporate research, Tom Ellacott, said.
The executive added that investors would also influence decisions, as they continue to prioritize short-term returns over long-term investments. This last part, at least, is not unusual in the current investment environment across industries. It could, however, make life even more difficult for oil and gas companies for a while.
The glut that Wood Mackenzie analysts expect is the same glut that the International Energy Agency has been expecting for a while now. Yet that very same International Energy Agency earlier this month issued a warning on the longer-term security of global oil supply, saying the industry needed to step up investment in new production because natural depletion at mature fields was progressing faster than previously assumed.
Per the report, if the industry has to maintain current levels of oil and gas production, more than 45 million barrels per day of oil and around 2,000 billion cu m of natural gas would be needed in 2050 from new conventional fields. It’s worth noting that this is maintenance of current production levels, assuming demand will not rise, which is a risky assumption.
Even with projects ramping up and new ones approved for development and not yet in production, a large gap still exists “that would need to be filled by new conventional oil and gas projects to maintain production at current levels, although the amounts needed could be reduced if oil and gas demand were to come down,” the IEA said.
However, demand could just as well increase, heightening the degree of uncertainty in the industry and making long-term planning even more challenging—especially for companies with higher debt-to-equity ratios. Wood Mackenzie expects those with gearing of above 35% would prioritise resilience over long-term growth, while those with better debt positions would turn to divestments and asset acquisitions to improve the quality of their portfolio.
Share buybacks will also remain on the oil industry’s table as a favorite tool for making shareholders happy, although, Wood Mac notes, these tend to dry up when oil slips below $50 per barrel. Interestingly, the analytics company does not seem to factor into its analysis a scenario where prices might go up instead of down, especially now that President Trump has signaled he would be willing to step up pressure on Russia to bring a swifter end to the war in Ukraine.
If prices do rise, for whatever reason, including failure of the massive 3-million-bpd glut that the IEA predicted to materialize, then the immediate outlook for the oil and gas industry becomes different—but not too different. Companies have already demonstrated they would not return to their old ways of splurging when times were good and tightening belts when times were bad. They would likely stick to spending caution and shareholder return prioritization, regardless of prices.
By Irina Slav
As a landmark intervention designed to guarantee uninterrupted electricity supply, the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), has commenced a 7MW solar power project at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH)
The project is the outcome of ECN’s comprehensive energy audit and strategic planning, which exposed the unsustainable cost of diesel and the risks associated with AKTH’s dependence on the national grid.
Working in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology under the coordinating leadership of Chief Uche Nnaji, the ECN planned and executed this critical project to secure the hospital’s energy future.
The Director – General, ECN, Dr. Mustapha Abullahi, said “the timing of this intervention could not be more crucial” recalling that only days ago, AKTH suffered prolonged power outages that tragically claimed lives in its Intensive Care Unit.
“That painful incident has strengthened our resolve. With this solar installation, we are ensuring that such tragedies are prevented in the future and that critical medical services can operate without fear of disruption”.
Abdullahi stated that the project is a clear demonstration of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in action and reflects ECN’s commitment to making Nigeria’s energy transition people-centered, where hospitals, schools, and other essential institutions thrive on reliable, clean, and sustainable power.
The ECN boss further reaffirmed ECN’s commitment to continued deployment of innovative energy solutions across the nation.
“This is not just about powering institutions; it is about saving lives, restoring confidence, and securing a brighter future for Nigerians”, he stated.
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