“We Struggle With Lawyers, Litigants To Board Okada” – Kwara Magistrates Lament Ordeal

Magistrates in Kwara State have revealed the humiliation, deprivation and neglect they suffer in the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

They accuse the State Government of not taking care of them like other Judicial Officers.

According to the sources, judges of the superior courts, as well as top judicial administrators such as the Chief Registrar and Deputy Chief Registrar, have benefited from welfare improvements and vehicle allocations, while magistrates and Area Court judges continue to struggle.

“Most of us don’t own cars,” one of the magistrates said.

“Anytime the governor is distributing official vehicles, it is always judges of the High Court and other senior judicial officers that benefit. Magistrates are completely forgotten.”

Some of them who spoke accused the administration of subjecting them to poor welfare conditions, alleging that many of them earn less than N200,000 monthly and have been forced to rely on commercial motorcycles (Okada) as their primary means of transportation to court.

Two magistrates who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals described their situation as “humiliating” and “degrading,” saying they have repeatedly been excluded whenever the state government distributes official vehicles to judicial officers.

The magistrates alleged that Grade Level 1 magistrates in the state earn less than N200,000 monthly, a salary they said is insufficient for a judicial officer expected to maintain the dignity of the bench.

“Because our salaries are not up to N200,000, how do you expect a magistrate to buy a car? We come to court on Okada every day. It is humiliating,” the source added.

The judicial officers lamented that the situation has become particularly embarrassing because litigants, lawyers and members of the public address them as “Your Worship” and “My Lord” during proceedings, only to see them afterwards struggling to secure commercial motorcycles for transportation.