Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has said that his interest in building court complexes in all the local government areas of the state is both to bring justice close to the people and to make it affordable.
The governor made the comment while commissioning the Oru East High Court, Magistrate Court and Customary Court Complex located at Oru East Local Government Headquarters in Omuma.
He said the search for justice in distant places made it “expensive, cumbersome, as well as excuses to lawyers asking for undue adjournments thereby prolonging cases unnecessarily.”
The idea of the Oru East Court Complex in Omuma was to “make things easy for lawyers, judges and for the people to obtain justice quickly and affordably,” he said.
He assured all involved in justice delivery in Imo State of the government’s cooperation and willingness to do all that was possible to make their job easy.
In her remarks, the Chief Judge of Imo State, Hon. Justice Theresa Chukwuemeka Chikeka, said, “having all the three courts in one complex will make the work of the lawyers easy, as it will reduce unnecessary excuses and adjournments.”
Introducing the project to the governor and his entourage, the Imo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. COC Akaolisa, said that “the Court Complex is a manifestation of the Governor’s commitment and promise to bringing justice nearer to the people,” describing the Oru East Court Complex as a “testimony.”
In his address of welcome, the Sole Administrator of Oru East Local Government Council, Nze Celestine Nnamdi Onyeaka, said: “The Governor has turned Oru East to an upcoming urban city by bringing the Imo Polytechnic to them, commissioning of an ultra modern General Hospital, the Court Complex and the International Market that is ongoing”, among others.