Judges deserve houses after retirement – Wike

TRACKING____Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike has decried the prevailing situation of allowing judges to retire without building befitting accommodation for them.

Wike said his administration embarked on projects to solve the problems of accommodation for judges in secured areas following their retirement.

A statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Commumications, Paulinus Nsirim, said Wike spoke shortly after inspecting the progress of work at the reconstructed residence of the presiding justice of the Court of Appeal and quarters for judges of the state in Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor local government areas.

He said: “I did say that we are going to give them owner- occupier residence so that when judges retire, they will get accommodation.

“It is very funny to find that when judges retire, they do not have a place to stay or are compelled to stay in remote places after years of service. So, we thought that there is need to give them a befitting place after retirement.

“We are happy that the contractor has completed the building, and now Julius Berger PLC is carrying out the furnishing. In a short time, we believe that it will be commissioned and handed over to the Chief Judge of the state who will then hand them over to the beneficiaries”.

He explained the support given to the judiciary by his administration was to deepen democracy in Nigeria.

He said all the arms of government needed to work in synergy in discharging their responsibilities to serve the people with courage and efficiency.

The governor said his administration had commissioned quarters for Judges of the Court of Appeal while the residence of the Presiding Justice and staff of the same court would be ready soon to boost their morale to confidently discharge their duties.

He said: “We are quite impressed with the level of work that is going on there. You must give the people all it takes to do their best because you can’t talk about fighting corruption and then you will not give the Judiciary the support that it requires.

“You cannot talk about deepening democracy without having the Judiciary or Legislature playing their role. The three arms of government must work together to be able to engender development for the state”.