The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen argued on Tuesday that without the timely intervention of the Judiciary in trying times, the country would have collapsed.
Onnoghen, who stressed the importance of the Judiciary in the country’s continued existence, tasked judicial officers (Judges and justices) to always be abreast of the current state of the law to ensure effective justice dispensation.
The CJN noted that public confidence in the Judiciary and its legitimacy would remain threatened where judicial officials are unable to appropriately interpret the law.
Onnghen spoke in Abuja yesterday at the opening session of a workshop for judicial officers from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Federal High Court on provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The workshop, with the theme: The Role of the Judiciary in the effective development of Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry, was put together by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the National Judicial Institute (NJI) and a private entity, Juris Law Office.
Onnoghen said: “Nigerian judiciary is instrumental in ensuring stability in the oil and gas sector by interpretation of the relevant laws to the industry.
“I make bold to say, without any fear of contradiction, that the Nigerian Judiciary is a key partner in ensuring stability in the oil and gas sector by interpretation of the relevant laws to the industry.
“Indeed, the adjudicatory duty of a Judge can only be performed optimally when he remains up to date with the emerging developments and trends in jurisprudence pertaining to the oil and gas sector.
“You must be seen to be knowledgeable in the law and be in charge of your courts to ensure speedy resolution of disputes which in turn serves to assure investors and other major players in the oil and gas industry that their investments are safe,” Onnoghen said.
The CJN, who hailed recent policies in the oil and gas sector, said such reforms were informed by government to promote local content in the provision of technology and manpower to the downstream sector.
He said: “In addition, the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry (Governance) Bill is an indication that the government is steering the oil and gas sector in the right direction.
“The recent innovations in the oil and gas industry have inevitably introduced new legal regimes that will impact on the quality of justice delivery.
“I believe that this forum will be extremely beneficial to you in the performance of your duties and by extension, the society at large,” he said.
Onnoghen said the workshop was intended to ensure that judicial officers were abreast of the role of the Judiciary in dealings with issues in the oil and gas sector.
One of Onnghen’s processors, Justice Alpha Belgore, noted that the NCDMB had before now, deplored the carrot and stick approach in enforcing compliance with the local content law administratively.
He said with the enactment of the law on local content, it was now appropriate for the Judiciary to use stick in line with the rule of law to ensure total compliance.
NJI’s Administrator, Justice Rosaline Bozimo was of the view that judicial officers were required to posses adequate knowledge and skills on oil and gas to efficiently adjudicate on the cases that may come before them.
She said: “This has ultimately informed the need for this workshop to be held so as to expose judicial officers to legal and technical aspects of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.”
Represented by NJI’s Secretary, Abubakar Maidona, Bozimo urged judicial officers to be proactive in the discharge of their constitutional duties by not allowing technicalities stand in the way of substantive justice, especially with regard to oil and gas disputes, which result to huge financial costs to litigating parties.
NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Simbi Wobote urged the Judiciary to assist his agency to achieve its objective of creating wealth for local businesses and jobs for teeming populace in line with the law.
Wobote noted that an enabling regulatory framework backed with the appropriate legislation was fundamental for sustainable local content practice.
He said; “In Nigeria, we have moved from the ‘best endeavour’ environment into the one in which there is a law in place. Thus, it is no longer optional or debatable whether to comply.
“Much of the 28 per cent local content achievement has been done, using the passion and commitment of the various directorates in the Board.
“Our next big leap from 28 per ceng to 70 per cent in-country value retention will require change in the enforcement of the law to drive reversal of capital outflow”,
“We need the support of the judiciary to achieve our drive to create wealth for local businesses and jobs for our teeming populace in line with the law,” the NCDMB chief said.
