Two female judges have been sworn in by the governor of Delta State Ifeanyi Okowa.

Justices Theresa Diai as Chief Judge of Delta and Patience Elumeze as President of the Customary Court of Appeal,

Mr Okowa charged them to ensure regular training of judicial workers in the state, adding that judicial education and constant training of critical workers were imperative to enhance the quality of justice delivery and performances of courts in the state.

“History has been made with the confirmation of Justice Diai as the Chief Judge of Delta and Justice Elumeze as President, Customary Court of Appeal, Delta, Mr Okowa said.

“Rarely does it happen that you have two women heading both tiers of the judiciary in the state at the same time.

“As a state, we are proud to set the pace in this regard. I congratulate them.

Okowa charged the judicial heads to continue in the tradition of teamwork, excellence and exemplary leadership in the stead of their predecessors.

“One area I want you to prioritise is judicial education, training and retraining.

“This is crucial to improving the professional competence of judges and enhancing the quality of justice delivery and performance of our courts.

“Globally, the judiciary is constantly evolving, hence there is a compelling need to regularly update and upgrade your knowledge-base and that of other judicial officers through seminars, workshops as well as court manning to build competence in judicial skills and self-awareness,” he admonished.

The governor said the draft bills for the Delta House of Assembly Financial Autonomy Law 2018 and Delta Judicial Financial Autonomy Law 2020 have been prepared.

He, however, said the state was awaiting further input from the parties to the Memorandum of Action on some corrections to be made and the legal template, which would be due by next week.

“We are confident that Delta will meet the 45 days window for states to pass the amendments to return autonomy laws for both the judiciary and the legislature.

“But just to put on notice that this is an amendment to our own laws because we have already started practising both legislative and judicial autonomy in the state,” Mr Okowa stated.

Responding, Ms Diai said the appointment of the chief judge and president of the customary court of appeal passed through many stages.

She appealed for the cooperation of the executive and legislative arms of government with the judiciary in handling the tasks ahead.

Present at the ceremony was the Supreme Court Judge, Justice Chukwudumebi Oseji, Speaker and other top government functionaries.