Hon. Justice Z. A. Bulkachuwa, CFR, President of Court of Appeal on Monday in Kano explained that recent expansion of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal across Nigeria was designed to guaranteed easy access to justice.
Four new divisions of the court, namely Asaba, Awka, Gombe and Kano was created recently to boost the existing ones spread across the 5 geo-political zones in the country.
Already, Hon Justice A. D. Yahaya has been posted to serve as the presiding judge in Kano while Hon Justice H. A. Abiru and Hon. Justice A. A. Wambai would also sit on appeal in the division.
Justice Bulkachuwa, CFR, said the new divisions would curtail the frustrations that litigants encounter while trying to exhaust their rights to appeal.
In addition, she said “the division will reduce the cost of the appeal, minimize the frustrations occasioned by distance and make all the processes of filing appellate briefs easier and faster.”
She further assured that the expansion mission would continue until the court is satisfied that access to justice has been made a routine exercise.
In his speech, the Kano state Chief Judge, Justice Nura Sagir, said appeals from Kano and Jigawa states form the bulk of all appeals received at the Kaduna division which hitherto served both states.
Justice Sagir stated that with the creation of Kano division, distance has significantly shrunk and the less privileged would find it easier to pursue their cases beyond the state high courts.
Independent