A total of 36,712 cases are pending in various courts in Rivers, the chief judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, said on Thursday in Port Harcourt.

Mr Amadi said, at a special court session to mark the beginning of the 2023/2024 legal year in Rivers, that most cases had been in court since the preceding legal year.

He said high courts in Rivers carried over 11,074 cases from the 2022/2023 legal year, disposing of 5,041. Mr Amadi added that magistrates courts carried 14,943 cases into the new legal year, and the Customary Court of Appeal brought forward 88 cases into the new legal year.

The chief judge said the judiciary in Rivers generated N645 million in the previous year.

The chief judge also revealed that he received 50 petitions from lawyers and litigants seeking the transfer of their cases already assigned to magistrates and judges, pointing out that frivolous petitions hampered the smooth dispensation of justice.

The Rivers chief judge also mentioned that the judiciary in the state needed at least 300 employees to address the manpower deficiency.

The commissioner for justice, Zaccheaus Adangor, decried the unprofessional conduct of legal practitioners who sought to tarnish the integrity of judges when they lose cases.

A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Onueze Okocha, commended the judiciary in Rivers for the feats it achieved in the past.

NBA Port Harcourt chair Victor Benebo urged judicial officers to discharge their duties without fear or favour. Mr Benebo also called for improved welfare for magistrates in the state to enable them to perform well. 

(NAN)