By Adebisi Onanuga
Ogun State Chief Judge, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu has promised to bring justice closer to the state’s residents, saying that ignorance of the law was not an excuse.
She said it was a collective responsibility for all citizens to abide by and obey the law.
Justice Dipeolu spoke at the public presentation and launch of a book, “The Law At Your Fingertips”, held at the Ogun State Judiciary Complex, Kobape, Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to her, the idea for the simplified version of the law series was a culmination of the mustard seed that was sown by her administration’s desire to bring laws to the doorsteps of the common man.
Justice Dipeolu said: “The law at your fingertips initiative is an initiative, geared towards aiding the common man’s access to the law, and justice in general”.
She added that the initiative was also aimed at simplifying all laws of the state to ensure compliance in order to make the state work for everybody, and not only just a selected few.
The CJ said the book came at a time where various reforms, initiatives and innovations geared towards a better and more efficient administration of justice were being carried out within the state judiciary.
She noted that these various reforms, initiatives and innovations would not only create a conducive environment for the efficient administration of justice, but it would more importantly, bring justice closer to the entire people of state.
Justice Dipeolu said that the state’s Judiciary also identified the need to establish a sex offenders’ registry in the state, especially in line with the incessant number of sexual offence cases within society, where a sex offender would be convicted, noting that the name and conviction of such a convict shall be inputted on the sex offenders’ register.
She said that all the laws of the state were considered within the context of length, technicality, desired audience relevance, frequency of offences and other socio-economic factors, noting that she would not only simply the laws to make it understandable to the common man, but would also transcribe same into Yoruba language and Pidgin English.
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The Chief Judge implored all to familiarize themselves with the “Laws at your fingertips”, especially the Kabiyesis, Iyalojas, Religious leaders, to also bring these laws to the attention of friends, relatives, neighbours, church members, townspeople, villagers and brethren, saying lowering the spate of crime, would go a long way in creating a better and more conducive society for all.
Meanwhile, the state judiciary has proposed a total of N3.24B for the fiscal year, this was made known at the Budget defense before the Ogun state lawmakers, held at House of Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta,
Presenting the Budget analysis before the lawmakers, the Deputy Chief Registrar, Ogun state Judiciary, Mrs. Adeola Adelaja, explained that personnel cost would gulp N1.65B, while the overhead cost and capital expenditure estimated to N987M and N657M respectively.
The House of Assembly Chairman on Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Olakunle Sobukanla, charged the state judiciary on quick dispensation of justice, so as not to slow down the administration of justice in the state, saying that they should also put more effort on training and retraining of their staff.
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