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President of the Court of Appeal, PCA, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, yesterday, lamented the unavailability of funds for the 2023 General Election Petition Tribunals.
Justice Dongban-Mensem, who spoke at the 2022/2023 legal year of the appellate court, warned that failure to release the funds on time could hamper the constitution of various tribunals and courts that would entertain disputes that would arise from the impending election.
The PCA is statutorily empowered to constitute election petitions tribunals for elections in the country.
She said: “It is pertinent to state that adequate preparation requires adequate funding. The essential ingredient for the tribunals to function effectively to maximum capacity is the provision of the much needed funding to provide adequate facilities for the tribunals across the nation.
“The fund to prosecute the 2023 General Election Petition Tribunals has still not been released. This is becoming worrisome as it may impede plans to constitute the various tribunals and courts.
“The process of training of Hon. Justices, Tribunal Judges and Registry staff is also on hold, pending the release of funds. The existing tribunals have taken up a whole chunk of the very limited resources of the court.
“We appeal to the relevant authorities to ensure that the funds for running of the tribunals are released urgently.”
However, despite the absence of funds, Justice Dongban-Mensem disclosed that in preparation for the general elections, she has received from various heads of courts across the federation, nominations of judicial officers that would serve in the tribunals.
“Also, nominations of staff who will man the registries of the tribunals have been received from the various divisions of the court.
In his speech at the event, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, said the Federal Government was determined to improve the remuneration and conditions of service of judicial officers in the country.
He said: “I wish to recall that one of the cardinal issues raised by the President of the Court of Appeal in Her Lordship’s address last year was the issue of the welfare of our meticulous and committed judicial officers.
“The government of the day is not oblivious of this persistent challenge. Amid our revenue challenges as a nation, coupled with various demands for wage increase, one certain assurance I can make to this noble gathering is that the improvement of the remuneration and conditions of service of our judicial officers is uppermost on the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.“
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