CJN, Judicial Officials to Brainstorm on Nigeria’s Energy Sector

By Crusoe Osagie

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has agreed to lead the charge next week as judges in the country gather to brainstorm on pertinent issue involving power and energy sector in the country.

Mohammed in a letter of consent, announced that he would be declaring the programme open and setting the workshop on course to analyse the sensitive issues in the nation’s energy sector.

The National Judicial Institute (NJI) in response to the endless power sector crisis in the country and in fulfilment of part of its statutory mandate to train Judges/Justices of Courts in Nigeria, is set to begin intensive capacity building programmes for judicial officers from April 5.

The institute noted that the initiative would provide the needed panacea in the current tussle in the energy sector of the country, especially as it relates to litigations emanating from the energy policies in the power sector.

According to the institute, germane to this policy was the current crisis bedeviling the power sector privatisation, which had pitched the privatised energy firms against consumers on the 40 per cent tariff increase, which led to the current industrial crisis with the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress at the forefront.

“The National Judicial Institute in collaboration with the International Institute For Petroleum, Energy Law and Policy (IIPELP) will be organising the second Judges workshop on April 5 and 6, 2016 with special focus on ‘Emerging Legal and Policy Reform Issues in the Petroleum and Power Sectors of Nigeria’.

“It is hoped that this workshop will aid the judges/justices in the adjudication and resolution of the lingering disputes in the two sectors and bring the needed peaceful co-existence amongst the contending parties,” the institute noted.

To ensure an effective workshop, two major energy firms-Messrs Dele Oye & Associates and George Etomi & Partners have been retained to act as the workshop organisers and facilitators by the organisers.

The capacity building programme scheduled to take place at the Andrew Otutu Obaseki Auditorium, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, will also help to acquaint judges in the country with new developments in the power and petroleum sectors of the economy as these sectors go through present day advancement in the country.

While Dele Oye has been appointed to be the conference manager for the exercise, the two law firms, George Etomi and Partners along with Dele Oye and Co are co-facilitating the workshop.

The Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice RPI Bozimo, in a letter obtained by THISDAY confirmed the approval of the workshop by the institute stressing that the initiative would be beneficial to judicial officer in the country.

“I am happy to inform you that your request to collaborate with the NJI for the second edition workshop on ‘Emerging Legal and Policy Reform Issues in the Petroleum and Power Sector’ in Nigeria for judges has been approved, you suggested dated of April 5 and 6 have also been accepted.

“Our acceptance is predicated mainly on the statutory mandate of the institute to build the capacity of judicial officers in Nigeria, in all aspects of Law and related maters, the letter stated.