The CJN disclosed this while speaking at the opening ceremony of a training organised for justices of Supreme Court, Court of Appeal as well as judges of Federal High courts, by the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in collaboration with the Juris Law Office and Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.
Onnoghen, who insisted that it is the responsibility of judicial officers to sustain public confidence in the judiciary, urged judges to be well informed about the laws to ensure speedy resolution of disputes.
According to him, “The adjudicatory duty of a Judge can only be performed optimally when he remains up to date with the emerging developments and trends in jurisprudence pertaining to the oil and gas sector.
“You must be seen to be knowledgeable in the law and be in charge of your courts to ensure speedy resolution of disputes which in turn serves to assure investors and other major players in the oil and gas industry that their investments are safe.
“Nigerian judiciary is instrumental in ensuring stability in the oil and gas sector by interpretation of the relevant laws to the industry.
“I make bold to say, without any fear of contradiction, that the Nigerian Judiciary is a key partner in ensuring stability in the oil and gas sector by interpretation of the relevant laws to the industry”, the CJN stated.
On the theme, “The Role of the Judiciary in the Effective Development of Nigerian Content in the Oil and Gas Industry”, Justice Onnoghen said, such reforms were epitomised by the willingness of the government to promote local content in the provision of technology and manpower to the downstream sector.
“In addition, the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry (Governance) Bill is an indication that the government is steering the oil and gas sector in the right direction”, he said and further added that, “The recent innovations in the oil and gas industry have inevitably introduced new legal regimes that will impact on the quality of justice delivery.
In her speech at the training, the NJI Administrator, Justice Rosaline Bozimo, said judges were required to possess adequate knowledge and skills on oil and gas to efficiently adjudicate on the cases that may come before them.
She said, “This has ultimately informed the need for this workshop to be held so as to expose judicial officers to legal and technical aspects of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.”
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The Administrator, who was represented by the Institute’s Secretary, Abubakar Maidona, charged judges to be proactive in the discharge of their constitutional duties by not allowing technicalities stand in the way of substantive justice, especially with regard to oil and gas disputes which accrue huge financial costs for the litigating parties.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Engineer Simbi Wobote, solicited the support of the judiciary to achieve the board’s drive to create wealth for local businesses and jobs for the teeming populace in line with the law.
Wobote noted that an enabling regulatory framework backed with the appropriate legislation was fundamental for sustainable local content practice and added that, there is the need to support the judiciary in achieving its drive to create wealth for local businesses and jobs for the teeming populace in line with the law.
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