The Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, has called on all court users to collaborate with the state judiciary in its fight against corruption.
\nOkungbowa made the call on Friday during a special court session held in Benin to mark the opening of the 2025\/2026 Legal Year.
\nHe commended the \u201cBail Is Free Campaign Organisation\u201d for its continued support of the judiciary\u2019s efforts to rid the system of corruption.
\nThe opening ceremony provided an opportunity for the judiciary to reflect on the achievements of the past legal year and to outline goals for the year ahead.
\nAccording to the Chief Judge, key focus areas in the previous year included capacity building, administration of criminal justice, and staff welfare.
\nAs the new legal year begins, Okungbowa emphasised the judiciary\u2019s commitment to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in the discharge of its duties.
\nIn recognition of exemplary service, ten members of the state judiciary received the Chief Judge\u2019s Award for being outstanding ambassadors of the institution.
\nAlso speaking at the event, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin Branch, Mr. Idemudia Osifo, urged the Edo State judiciary to continue upholding the principles of justice, fairness, and judicial independence.
\nOsifo praised the judiciary for its industry, resilience, and steadfastness under the leadership of the Chief Judge, and also highlighted several persistent challenges.
\nHe noted that many courts in Edo State still operated in dilapidated conditions and lacked modern facilities needed for effective justice delivery.
\nHe lamented the prolonged duration of many court cases, which continued to erode public confidence in the system, and stressed the urgent need to improve the working conditions of judicial officers and support staff.
\n\u201cThe safety of judicial officers, lawyers, litigants, and witnesses must be ensured\u201d, he said.
\nThe NBA urged the judiciary to invest in ICT infrastructure to enhance justice delivery, reduce delays, and increase transparency.
\nIt also pledged its commitment to promoting access to justice and defending the sanctity of the legal profession.
\nAs the new legal year begins, the association urged the judiciary to uphold the noble ideals of justice, fairness, and independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Daniel Okungbowa, has called on all court users to collaborate with the state judiciary in its fight against corruption. Okungbowa made the call on Friday during a special court session held in Benin to mark the opening of the 2025\/2026 Legal Year. He commended the \u201cBail Is Free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67315,"featured_media":348876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-348829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-niger-delta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/67315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=348829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348877,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348829\/revisions\/348877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/348876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=348829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=348829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=348829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}