The branches of the Nigerian Bar Association in Ondo has appealed to the Chief judge of the state, Hon. Justice A.O. Odusola for urgent reforms in the judiciary.

In different letters addressed to the Chief Judge and made available to BarristerNG on Friday, the branches urged Hon. Odusola to urgently resolve issues of E- Filing, judicial seal and hike in Filing fees.
The branches further threatened to boycott the legal year scheduled for 14th October 2024 and Courts if their demands are not met.
Read the full letters below

Distinguished Learned Silks, Seniors and Colleagues,

Kindly permit me to bring to your prompt notice that, after the respective EMERGENCY MEETINGS across the five branches of the NBA in Ondo State which was held in the evening of yesterday, the Chairmen of all the branches convened a final meeting to harmonize our positions vis-a-vis the sundry issues which includes but not limited to E-FILING, HIKE IN FILING FEES, etc.

It was thereby finally agreed that a JOINT and FINAL letter be sent to the Chief Judge of Ondo State not later than 10am this morning, restating our positions as follows:

We keenly observed that after our last letter was received by your esteemed office, the Oath registry specially created in all the judicial divisions in Ondo State for preparation of Affidavits for deponents is functioning and it is still a beehive for such activities till date. Compulsory judiciary seal is still affixed and paid for on every Affidavit and statement on oath. Lawyers and litigants still pay higher filing fees at the High Courts and Magistrate Courts different from the scale of fees stipulated by the Rules of the Courts.

Premised on the foregoing, we humbly urge Your Lordship to meet our demands in the letter by:

a) reversing the filing fees at the Magistrate Courts and High Courts in Ondo State to the old price regime stipulated in the Rules of Courts;

b) putting an end to mandatory fixing and charges of judiciary red seal to Affidavit and statement on oath;

c) disbanding the commercialized Oaths office/registries where Affidavits are prepared for deponents before being administered.

d) Suspending the E-FILING of court processes which domain and backend are manned by and at the disposal of Cinforex, who is the service provider and a private limited company.

Your Lordship, without sounding immodest, much as we are eager to celebrate with your Lordship at the new legal year ceremony, nonetheless, if our demands highlighted above are not met before or at the official closing hour on Friday, being today, the 11th day of October, 2024, all our members in Ondo State shall be constrained to boycott, not only the legal year ceremony on Monday, the 14th day of October, 2024, but also further Courts’ sittings at the Magistrate Courts and High Courts in all the judicial divisions in Ondo State.

We are confident that your Lordship, being an arbiter of law, justice and equity, will meet our demands within this time-frame. In the interest of justice and the broader public good, we earnestly hope that Your Lordship will grant our requests in order to ensure a seamless legal year.

Most respectfully,

SIGNED BY:

NBA CHAIRMEN

ONDO STATE.

Read the full letter made available to BarristerNG below

The Honourable Chief Judge of Ondo State
His Lordship, Hon. Justice A.O. Odusola
Ondo State High Court Complex,
Akure, Ondo State.

Your Lordship,

RE: JOINT PETITION OF THE NBA BRANCHES IN ONDO STATE REGARDING THE UNILATERAL INCREASE IN FILING FEES, AFFIDAVIT PREPARATION CHARGES, ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL OATHS REGISTRIES IN JUDICIAL DIVISIONS AND E- FILING SYSTEM.

NOTICE OF BOYCOTT OF THE LEGAL YEAR CEREMONY, 2024

AND FURTHER COURTS’ SITTINGS IN ONDO STATE

The above subject matter herein refers.

This is to respectfully remind your noble Lordship that the Chairmen of the Respective Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) branches in Ondo State namely:

Akure, Okitipupa, Ondo, Owo and Ikare caused a joint Petition dated 23rd September, 2024, with the above caption to be written to your Lordship’s noble Office which was duly received on the same day. Copy of the said letter is attached for ease of reference. We noticed that Your Lordship has not taken any decisive action or given any Response to our humble demands in the said letter dated 23rd September, 2024,

Up till date despite the urgency it deserves and the harrowing difficulty Experienced by our members.

Some of the reasons for our demand are stated below:

ON THE FILING FEES:

The increment was done without consultation with the bar and also not in Compliance with the Ondo State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules.

ON THE JUDICIARY SEAL:
There is no requirement for this under the Evidence Act which regulates affidavits in Nigeria. This is, therefore, unlawful.

ON THE COMMERCIALIZED OATH REGISTRIES:
No law allows the High Court in Ondo State to turn itself into a business center where Affidavits are being prepared for deponents in the Oaths office before it is administered. This is contrary to Section 112 of the Evidence Act. What is more curious is the fact that while court registries do not have papers and even files, these commercial centers of the judiciary have these in abundance. Also, while courts do not have fuel to run generators for court sittings, these commercial centers are always running on generators the whole day. Also, these commercial centers are not under the registrars of each court in which they are located. More alarming is the fact that the Oath Registry has now been taken to University Campuses within the State. A clear example is the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

ON THE E-FILING:
While the introduction is commendable, it is without doubt that this was rushed into and has therefore led to a lot of problems in the judicial system. Lawyers are finding it almost impossible to file processes and those who are able to file, the judges do not have access to the processes so filed either for the purposes of assignment to court or for adjudication. New cases filed for weeks now have not been assigned. In one court on 10th October 2024, more than five cases adjourned for adoption of written addresses could not go on due to the e-filing. Also, there was no consultation with the Bar before the introduction and no adequate training for lawyers and judiciary staff. Also, the new system was not allowed to continue with the old system but was suddenly terminated. It is of

Interest that Lagos State which is one of the pioneers of the e-filing still allows manual filing till tomorrow and so are some other states. Your Lordship also did not consider what will be the fate of the judiciary if there is a disagreement between the service provider and the judiciary and they decide to lock the system or the system crashes. For example, Zenith Bank, which is one of the largest banks in Nigeria, has been having issues for weeks now.

We keenly observed that after our last letter was received by your esteemed office, the Oath registry specially created in all the judicial divisions in Ondo

State for preparation of Affidavits for deponents is functioning and it is still a bechive for such activities till date. Compulsory judiciary seal is still affixed and paid for on every Affidavit and statement on oath. Lawyers and litigants still pay higher filing fees at the High Courts and Magistrate Courts different from the scale of fees stipulated by the Rules of the Courts.

Premised on the foregoing, we humbly urge Your Lordship to meet our demands in the letter by:

a) Reversing the filing fees at the Magistrate Courts and High Courts in
Ondo State to the old price regime stipulated in the Rules of Courts;

b) putting an end to mandatory fixing and charges of judiciary red seal to Affidavit and statement on oath;
c) disbanding the commercialized Oaths office/registries where Affidavits where are prepared for deponents before being administered.
d) Suspending the E-filing of court processes which domain and backend are manned by and at the disposal of Cinforex, who is the service provider and a private limited company.
Your Lordship, without sounding immodest, much as we are eager to celebrate with your Lordship at the new legal year ceremony, nonetheless, if our demands highlighted above are not met before or at the official closing hour on Friday, 11th of October, 2024, all our members in Ondo State shall be constrained to boycotting not only the legal year ceremony on Monday, the 14th of October,

2024, but also further Courts’ sittings at the Magistrate Court and High Court in all the judicial divisions in Ondo State. We are confident that your Lordship being an arbiter of law, justice and equity will meet our demands within this time-frame. In the interest of justice and the broader Your Lordship will grant our requests in order to ensure a seamless legal year.

Most respectfully,

HENRY I. AKINGBESOTE ESQ.
NBA Chairman, Ondo Branch

ONIMISI UMAR ESQ (NOTARY PUBLIC)
NBA Chairman, Akure Branch

CHIEF KUNLE IJALANA
NBA Chairman, Owo Branch

OMOTAN OGUNMODEDE ESQ
NBA Chairman, Ikare Branch

OMOTOLA ODUSOLA ESQ
NBA Chairman, Okitipupa Branch