By Ayodele Oni
The Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA), has observed that the Third Arm of Government, which is Judiciary is missing in the state.
Reacting to the ongoing strike by Judiciary workers in the State, which has entered seven days, in a letter to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the NBA reiterated the need for full implementation of financial autonomy in ensuring that justice is dispensed without fear and partiality in the state.
This position is made known in a letter addressed to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as contained in a communique released by the association after a joint meeting on Thursday in Akure.
The letter was jointly signed by the leadership of the five branches in the state, namely; Onimisi Umar, Chairman, NBA, Akure Branch; Omotola Odusola, Chairman, NBA, Okitipupa Branch; Henry Akingbesote, Chairman, NBA, Ondo Branch; Chief Kunie Ijalana, Chairman, NBA, Owo Branch and Omotan Ogunmodede, Chairman, NBA, Ikare-Akoko Branch.
The communique, stated that the judiciary, as one of the arms of government is in the comatose as a result of the shutdown of all courts in the state by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) over non-implementation of financial autonomy in the state.
“It is no longer news that all the courts in Ondo State have been under lock and keys since June 13th, 2025, due to the industrial action embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) Ondo State Chapter.
“It is then, not an overstatement that a government is currently not in place in Ondo State due to the absence and visible collapse of the judiciary, which is the third leg on which the government stands.
“The visible absence of the judiciary, if not decisively and urgently revived, will precariously precipitate a state of anarchy, disorderliness, abuse of powers, and rising insecurity across the State.
“For instance, the two High Court rooms in Okitipupa Judicial Division that were completely razed during the “EndSARS” protest in 2020 have become a “zoo” and a habitat for snakes, reptiles and other wild animals.
“It is worse that the two judges in the Judicial Division always have to squat in the Magistrates’ courtroom interchangeably before they can sit to attend to cases.”
The association stressed further that in Ondo Judicial Division, the epileptic state and condition of the High Court of Justice within the Division metaphorically portrays ‘injustice’ to any innocent mind that will come to seek justice in the court.
“The roofing of all the High Courts and Magistrate Courts in the Division is embarrassingly bad and leaking.
“Whenever it rains, it beats litigants, judges and lawyers in their robes. The situation is so dreadful that buckets are being supplied to leaky portions of courtrooms to contain the drips of rainwater.
“Not only that, the furniture of the courtrooms is damaged beyond repair to the extent that lawyers struggle to find a seat before they can present their case.
“This is the same horrible situation in Owo and Ikare Judicial Divisions. The infrastructure in the Akure Judicial Division is also falling, and most Magistrates do not have courtrooms to sit.”
The NBA decried inadequacy of provision for imprest to run the registries across all the judicial divisions in the state.
“There are no computer gadgets or stationery. Registrars and court clerks take court files to business centres before they can type and process official records of the courts, which are confidential and ought to be kept secret,” the NBA said.
The Association also berated the act of using Judiciary for financial gain by the State Government.
“We firmly believe that Your Excellency is aware that the judiciary’, as a unique arm of government, exists primarily to serve humanity by promoting access to justice and equity, and not to generate money. The failure to uphold these principles may inevitably lead to chaos and disorder.
“We state therefore, without equivocation, that the recent prohibition of manual filing of new suits and introduction of mandatory E-filing of Court processes managed by COMIS in Ondo State is a complete sham.
“As it is, N1,000.00 is levied as a service charge for every filing done through COMIS, no matter how negligible the filing is. Also, all filing fees and penalties are now channeled directly to the pool of the Ondo State Government.
“The creation of special Oaths Registries across all Judicial Divisions for the preparation and administration of Affidavits for deponents is a pointer that the judiciary in Ondo State is being transformed into a revenue- generating agency by the government.
“We ask that your Excellency resist any attempt and urge to commercialize the Judiciary by turning it into a business enterprise or a conduit pipe to generate revenue for the executive.
“We submit that more financial burden should not be imposed on the masses as a ticket to gaining access to justice, as that will erode the intendment of the right to access to justice by any citizen as provided in Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the communique said.
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