Assembly Passes Rivers State Judicial Institute Bill

The Rivers State House of Assembly, yesterday, passed a bill seeking to establish Rivers State Judicial Institute into law.
The bill was passed, after a thorough debate on the floor of the House.
The state Assembly also condemned the exclusion of the state from benefitting from the World Bank loan, and threatened to protest the matter.
It, however, urged the National Assembly not to approve the request by the President, if Rivers State was not included in the list of benefitting states.
In his remarks, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, described the said exclusion of Rivers State as divisive.
While referring to Chapter Two (Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the speaker noted that Section 14 of the Constitution provides that “the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice”.
Ibani added that even as Nigeria clocks 61, the country still finds discrimination among states.
He noted that the Federal Government should acknowledge that the people of Rivers State were part of Nigeria.
The speaker also set up a three-man committee to meet with the Rivers State National Assembly caucus to ensure that Rivers State was included in the list of benefiting states.
In another development, the Rivers State House of Assembly has approved the request of the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to borrow the sum of N25billion to fund projects in the state.
The approval followed a letter from the governor requesting the House to do so.

By: Kevin Nengia