Nasarawa to Establish Small Claims Courts across 13 LGAs

Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia

The Nasarawa State Government yesterday said that Small Claims Courts (SCC) would be established in all local government areas of the state to enable residents have easy access to justice.

This was disclosed in Lafia by the state’s Chief Judge and Chairman of the State Judicial Service Commission, Justice Aisha Aliyu, when signing the Small Claims Court Creation Warrant that would pave way for the establishment of the specialised courts across the state.

Aliyu, however, said that the Nasarawa State Judicial Service Commission would give the state magistrates a time frame for adjudication, because the SCC is a specialised court.

She said: “It is a specialised court that we will not allow it to go the normal civil procedure way. We will not allow it to go on indefinitely, because if we do not give it a time frame, the aim of what we are trying to do will be defeated.

“Our jurisdiction deals a lot in land matters, chieftaincy, armed robbery, kidnaping, culpable homicide and we are under pressure to decongest our prisons.”  

In a remark, the Vice President of Business Reform and Ease of Doing Business, Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency (NASIDA), Ms. Stella Ajige, said Nasarawa was the first state within the North-central to implement the judicial reform.

She, however, said the SCC was in line with the Governor Abdulallahi Sule’s mandate to make justice accessible to all in the state.

“The benefits of the SCC include, but not limited to, the promotion of effective case management and efficiency with the court system, speedy resolution of disputes, adoption of best court practices and fostering self-representations in small claims.

“This reform would help to enable the Nasarawa State business environment conducive for more growth and easy access to justice in the state,” she said.