Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said his administration is investing in federal judiciary infrastructure in the state because the Federal Government has abandoned its responsibilities to Rivers people.
He said this when the National Association of Rivers State Students (NARSS) from the Nigerian Law School paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Thursday.
The governor, in a statement by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, said his administration was compelled to make necessary investments in courts under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government because they were left to rot.”
After Lagos State, the next state with the highest number of litigation is Rivers State, yet, the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has dilapidated, the National Industrial Court was non-existent and the Court of Appeal has been in a sorry state.
“To ensure that our people have access to justice, we resolved to construct a new Federal High Court Complex, with six modern courtrooms and state-of-the-art facilities. That complex will be commissioned this month.
“We have proposed the demolition of the existing old Federal High Court, so that we can build a new complex with more courtrooms,” he said.
The governor also added that his administration was constructing the National Industrial Court complex in Port Harcourt, as part of measures to ensure that litigants no longer travel to Yenagoa, Bayelsa State for their cases.
He said the Court of Appeal building was undergoing total rehabilitation to accommodate more litigants, assuring that his administration would continue to deliver on quality projects and good governance.
Earlier, Publicity Secretary of the NARSS from the Nigerian Law School, Miss Akubueze Okocha, lauded Governor Wike for she described as his outstanding achievements in the development of infrastructure in the law sector and urged him to maintain the tempo of projects delivery across the state.