Gov. Lalong Vows to Provide Conducive Environment for Lawyers, Judges

By Golok Nanmwa,Jos

Plateau state Governor Simon Lalong on Monday said his administration remains committed to providing conducive environment for lawyers and judges to operate in the State .

He made this known while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2019 law week of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA Jos Branch .

“We are building more courts and equipping them , the new High Court Complex is receiving the roof covering and we hope to commission the furnished complex during the next anniversary of this administration.”

In his words “We are also paying attention to the training of lawyers particularly in our State University in Bokkos where we are putting infrastructure in place for the Faculty of Law.”

Lalong further said ,” Our Rescue Administration remains faithful to obeying court orders in line with the rule of law and expect that citizens and organisations will do same for the continued peace and prosperity of our State.”

” I expect you my learned colleagues to join hands with us in ensuring the success of the Multi-door courthouse which we have put in place to facilitate alternative dispute resolutions as we encourage investors to come into Plateau.”

“We appreciate your partnership and support to our Rescue Administration so far and urge you to keep faith with us as we complete the vision of moving Plateau to the Next Level.”

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“One of the challenges we face as a nation is security which the constitution clearly domesticates in the Exclusive Legislative list. Considering the limited capacity of State Governors to respond to security threats in their domains as “Chief Security Officers”, could this be the time to change this provision?” he added .

” The conversation as to whether to move it to the concurrent list or not has lingered for so long with arguments going forth and back. Should State Police be or not? I hope this conference will provide the answers.”

“Similarly, the issue of resource control has also been on the table for a long time as mining and exploitation of mineral resources continue to be in the Exclusive List in the Constitution.”

” For many States, the feeling is that this ought to have been moved to the concurrent list considering their huge financial burdens which have just gone up with the new minimum wage. Let this meeting tell us the way forward on this also.”

“Of course there are other areas such as the continued existence of State Independent Electoral Commissions and their capacity to conduct free, fair and credible elections.”

” Some have argued that the provision for their creation should be amended and taken to the exclusive list. This is an area I hope this discourse will also look at.”

“. Let us do all that is necessary to allow the rule of law prevail. Only then can the constitution have any impact on the lives of the citizens ” he added.

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Gov. Lalong Vows to Provide Conducive Environment for Lawyers, Judges