Abia PDP Gov Candidate, Anosike, Promises Lawyers Financial Autonomy, Welfare Reforms

Boniface Okoro in Umuahia

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Abia State, Dr. Kelechi Anosike, has condemned the repeated industrial actions in the state judiciary, promising to prioritise the welfare of judicial workers and enforce full financial autonomy for the Bench if elected in the 2027 general election.

Anosike, who disclosed this while addressing over 495 lawyers at a dinner he hosted at the Atlantic Presidential Hall of the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, described the four strikes embarked upon by judicial workers in Abia State within three years as “condemnable and appalling.”

For Anosike, the matter goes beyond the welfare of judicial officers. He told the gathering of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Professors of Law, lecturers and Bar and Bench members that: “A judiciary that is repeatedly shut down affects the administration of justice, the economy, businesses, litigants and the fundamental rights of citizens.”

The dinner was organised on the sidelines of the just-concluded Annual General Conference of the Nigeria Bar Association held in Port Harcourt.

A statement issued by the PDP candidate’s Media Unit said he also aimed what he called “executive cherry-picking” of funds appropriated to the judiciary.

He argued that once the judiciary’s budget has been proposed, defended, passed by the state House of Assembly and assented to by the governor, the executive should not subsequently determine which portions it will release and which it will withhold.

“Funds appropriated for the judiciary should be released as appropriated, predictably and without executive cherry-picking. Unpredictable funding makes it difficult for the judiciary to plan and undermines financial autonomy,” Anosike said.

His message to the government said that “funds appropriated for the judiciary should be released as appropriated, predictably and without executive cherry-picking,” the statement added.

The International Commercial Lawyer used the opportunity to let his colleagues into the kind of welfarist government he was envisioning for Abia State if allowed to run the state in 2027.

According to him, the kind of Abia State he wants to build for the next generation is a state where government works and cares for the people; where no citizen is left behind.

“I believe profoundly that the whole essence of government is the welfare of its citizens.

“The government must not exist merely to exercise power. It must exist to improve lives, create opportunities, protect dignity, and give every citizen a fair chance to prosper.

“That is the foundation of the welfarist philosophy that I believe should guide the next chapter of Abia’s development,” Anosike said.

He promised to value workers, saying: “We shall build an Abia State where workers do not have to continually struggle for what they have legitimately earned.”

According to him, in the Abia State of his administration, salaries and allowances will be paid as and when due; and pensions and gratuities cleared; while promotions will come when they are due.

“Those who dedicate their productive years to serving the state deserve dignity in service and dignity in retirement.

“The state must have the capacity to protect its people from hunger and economic vulnerability. Every Abian in need must be seen as a priority, not a problem.

“The government must have policies that recognise their realities and respond with compassion, fairness and practical solutions,” the PDP flag bearer said.

He further noted that: “Abia must be a state where the ordinary citizen can wake up each morning with hope, dignity and confidence in the future.”

It was learnt that the Port Harcourt dinner assumed political significance because the Abia State Government had scheduled its own dinner for members of the Abia legal community on the same day and around the same time at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Port Harcourt.