By Henry Oqua
Governor Godwin Obaseki, in the company of the Chief Judge of Edo State, Hon. Justice Joe Acha, and the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Marcus Onobun, on Wednesday, November 2, 2022, signed into law the new Edo Justice Reform Team Law and the new Edo State Criminal Law.
Two other bills were signed by the Edo State Governor, one establishing the Edo State Forestry Commission and the Edo State Development and Building Control Agency which will address the indiscriminate building of structures without approvals from the relevant agency. Describing the signing as a watershed, Mr Obaseki noted that it has taken almost a century for some of the laws to be reviewed or even enacted.
“Today is a very significant day for us in Edo State because we have succeeded in some bold moves to enact and review laws in areas we haven’t done for the last century in some cases and for half a century in other cases.
“We are signing the Justice Sector Reform Team Law and the new Criminal Law in Edo State. This is a real watershed and a milestone. Over the years, the lack of adequate coordination among the judicial institutions in our state has created a major problem in the administration of justice not only in our State but also across the country.” he said.
The administration of justice in Nigeria has led to a situation where many cases are delayed, sometimes for decades, accused persons awaiting trial sometimes rot in jail and never get their day in court. Hence, a visibly excited Obaseki explained that incidents like that will be eliminated in Edo as the new Justice Reform Team law will improve the coordination needed in the judiciary to improve its functions and make it beneficial to ordinary citizens.
Lamenting the consequences of decades of neglecting the much-needed reforms, the Governor said “the effect of this lack of coordination is felt in very many ways including the delays in the prosecution of cases, congestion in our prisons, large proportions of prisoners awaiting trial, lack of cohesive action for effective delivery of justice, inefficient use of our scarce resources as the judicial institutions embark on improvement initiatives. But we believe that this Justice Sector Reform Team Bill will bring together all these critical stakeholders in the justice sector to deal with issues within the sector with a view to significantly reducing if not eliminating the delays in the justice sector, improve cooperation, planning, and implementation of the justice sector reforms.” Obaseki said.
He also explained that the target for his administration from inception was to enable the judiciary to contribute its own quota towards Making Edo Great Again by strengthening the laws to make the State investor-friendly and to make the Edo society a law-based one.
The second law, the new Edo State Criminal Law, now replaces the old Criminal Code which is nearly a hundred years old and in many respects no longer in tune with Edo’s current realities.
Some of the key areas highlighted by Mr Obaseki about the new Criminal Law beyond it being gender neutral and its use of contemporary language are the creation of new offenses such as computer and electronic misuse of data, exam malpractice, and property rights. Additionally, he noted that the law against rape has now been strengthened to help the state to better deal with its prevalence and mitigate its effects.
“In line with the zero-tolerance stance of this administration against sexual offenses, the law on the offense of rape has now been strengthened to deal with the prevalence of the offense and its diverse manifestations. New offenses have also been created in this new law to close some gaps in the current legal framework, such as computer and electronic data misuse, exam malpractice, money laundering, and allied offenses, unlawful conversion of public properties and unlawful interference with property rights, etc. are now part of this law.” Mr Obaseki noted.
Before he praised the 10-man Edo State House of Assembly and the Ministry of Justice for the feat achieved, Mr Obaseki commended the passage of the Forestry Commission Law, which he said was last reviewed in 1968.
Amidst the global clamour for zero Carbon emissions to fight climate change, the new Edo State Forestry Commission law now creates a standalone agency of government that will deal with all issues pertaining to the State’s forest assets including combating deforestation, removing criminal elements who have made the forests home and ensuring that Edo maintains its forest for generations to come.
Making this case, Governor Obaseki said “as you are aware, one of our biggest endowments is our forestry assets and resources. We are in the rainforest and there aren’t many regions in the world where you can find rainforests. Because we had not reviewed our forestry laws, it created a lacuna for elements to go in and undertake massive deforestation of our forestry assets. Our forests have also become ungoverned spaces and provide a habitat for criminals. With this new law, we have looked comprehensively at all our forestry assets and put in place new rules and guidelines, and created a specific agency, the Forestry Commission whose sole purpose is to deal with forestry matters as a stand-alone entity”.
In his own remark, Hon. Justice Joe Acha noted that the signing of the new Criminal Law was a significant moment in the history of the legal practice in the State, adding that until now, the last criminal code Edo operated with was in the 1976 laws of the former Bendel State. Delta State which was carved out of Bendel with Edo has since changed its own Criminal Laws
“Today is quite significant in the annals of our legal practice in Edo state. The last time and where you can find the criminal code is in the 1976 laws of the defunct Bendel state, which Edo state only forms an integral part of. Our sister state, in the committee of states, Delta State, has since established its own laws, formulated its own criminal code and laws.
“So what has happened this evening is another milestone and so many feathers in the cap of Mr Governor; and what the House has also done for us is to elevate Edo State to those States in the Federation that are proactive. We are the end-users of this of course. I am particularly gratified that for several years I was heading the justice sector reform team, and we were just operating other rules and regulations without laws. Now there is a law to guide the operation of that team.
“Mr Governor, thank you for all your support for making our job easy. Thank you Mr Governor. Thank you, Mr Speaker.” Hon Joe Archer concluded.
