Wike: FG Will Solve 80% of Judges’ Housing Problem Before 2027

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has boasted that about 80 per cent of the accommodation problem bedeviling judges would have been solved before the end of the first tenure of President Bola Tinubu.
He gave the assurance yesterday at the foundation laying ceremony of three magistrate buildings in Jabi, Asokoro, and Garki, Abuja, attended by Justice Sylvanus Orji, who represented the Chief Judge of the FCT, Hon Justice Husseini Baba-Yusuf.
The minister noted there would be no quick dispensation of justice when there is no enabling environment for judges and magistrates, adding it would be difficult when there is no provision for their welfare.
“I have been going around, and sometimes when you see where our judges and magistrates sit, it’s very, very embarrassing. And then you still consider, or you still want them to deliver justice quickly, as you want them to do. You need to provide good enabling environment, good offices, good court halls for them to be able to do that.
“Sometimes you go and you see where justices are living as tenants. And then sometimes, when they are not able to pay on time, they are at the mercy of the landlords.
“And that can be embarrassing. Even where they are living, you don’t even know, sometimes where criminals are. Sometimes, they are living with even those criminals around. So how do you want to guarantee their life?” Wike said.
The minister assured that by October this year, the FCT Administration would hand over 20 units of duplexes of new flats to the FCT High Court and by June next year, during the third anniversary of the president, over 30 duplexes would also have been handed to the FCT High Court.
Wike also commended the FCT High Court for its role in FCTA revenue drive by putting every machinery in place towards that effort.