He also assured that when he finally assumes power he will be fair to all.
Speaking at the commissioning of the Magistrates’ Court Complex in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, at the instance of Governor Nyesom Wike, the president-elect, who ended his two-day official visit to the oil-rich South-South state yesterday, said Nigerians must tolerate one another.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) powerbroker said he and Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have been promoting the cause of unity, despite not being members of the same political party.
Tinubu said, “I will fulfil the promise I made to the people of Rivers State, and that is what I intend to do in all policy formations coming up.
“I promise Nigerians that the unity of this country is not negotiable. That is what Wike and I are promoting jointly. I promise I will be fair to all.”
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, also promised to review the welfare of judges after he is sworn in on May 29, 2023.
Addressing legal luminaries at the occasion and tasking them on the culture of maintenance, the president-elect said, “The reform is on the way. I am here with the hope that you will collaborate with me. I promise you (of) my commitment to fulfil all political promises that I made.”
Tinubu was in the state alongside the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, as well as APC governors and former governors.
•Wike raises alarm over neglect of new Rivers campus of law school
Meanwhile, Rivers State governor, Wike, also yesterday maintained that it is too early in the day for the Council of Legal Education to ignore the Dr. Nabo Graham-Douglas Campus of the Nigerian Law School in Port Harcourt.
The governor is dismayed as to why the campus is allowed to suffer a lack of regular provision of electricity and water supply when the Rivers State government had already donated commercial property and a N400 million take-off grant to ensure maintenance of the campus.
Wike observed the inauguration of the newly-constructed Rivers State Magistrates Court Complex, named after Justice Iche Ndu, in Port Harcourt.
He said his administration did not want the Dr. Nabo Graham-Douglas Campus to suffer because the Council of Legal Education has not received money from the Federal Government to cater to such needs.
“When we handed over the Law School to the Council of Legal Education, the (Rivers) State government gave out N400m and said look, put it in an account for the maintenance of the structures.
“We gave them the property that they can use to make money to keep the school. We didn’t want a situation where they would say the Federal Government has not released money, or the money they released is too small.”
He added, “We said, okay, let the Federal Government pay your salaries; take this money to keep and maintain the school. I was told the other day that there was no light; there was no water. I can’t understand our system.”
The governor attributed such an attitude to the poor maintenance culture that has pervaded every facet of public life in Nigeria, wherein nobody cares enough to maintain public property.
Wike, therefore, advised the Rivers State chief judge not to allow the newly-constructed Magistrates’ Court Complex to suffer such a fate.
He assured that financial provisions would be made, which should cater to the maintenance needs of the complex for at least the first year.
Wike’s words, “As I am leaving office, in this one year, when I come here, I don’t want to see and hear that it is dilapidated or it has deteriorated; it will be unfair.
“So, each month, you’ll get N20m to maintain this place. We will give you one year (money) in advance so that you’ll keep this place well.”
The governor also told the CJ, “It will be unfair that in your tenure you cannot maintain this edifice. It will be quite unfair. Put it in your budget. I will plead with my successor that he should be releasing this money to you. Let them give it out to those whose responsibility is to keep it clean.”
The governor thanked the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for accepting to inaugurate the project, which he said is a fulfilment of another promise he made to the Rivers people.
Wike recalled that he went to the state high court premises and saw how congested it was, and asked for the rotational use of available courtrooms because magistrates were accommodated there.
He said it was at that point that he opted to construct a befitting complex fitted with modern equipment for use by magistrates.
Inaugurating the Complex, the President-elect, Tinubu, commended the governor for his foresight and love to provide judges and magistrates with the best working and living conditions.
He noted that with such a provision, the governor had shown sufficient support to fight against corruption, particularly in the judiciary.
The president-elect stressed that expecting judges to live, operate and dispense justice in squalor cannot immune them from corruption.
“You don’t expect your judges to live in squalor, to operate in squalor, to dispense justice in squalor. This is part of the changes that are necessary in our policy think tank.
“We must fight corruption and we definitely must look at the other side of the coin. If you don’t want your judges to be corrupt, you’ve got to pay attention to their welfare.
“If you want fair dispensation of justice, you don’t want them to operate in hazardous conditions. Let’s think value for value,” he said.
Tinubu assured that his administration, when sworn in, will fight corruption in the judiciary by reviewing in a policy think-tank their welfare, and conditions of service.
He also commended Wike for building the edifice for the magistrates and charged Nigerians to cultivate the virtue of maintaining public assets.
“To the magistrates, I say congratulations. This edifice from the outside is so gorgeous. Yes, you have a new place, but the governor challenged the conscience of all of us. We have to change our culture of maintenance. That is a local issue, universally accepted.
“But we will fight poverty and we must fight it rigorously. The poverty of thinking, poverty of standard, and poverty of reasoning like the perversion they gave my story yesterday. That is the poverty of thinking.”
Describing the project, Rivers Commissioner for Special Projects, Deinma Iyalla said there are 24 courtrooms in the five two-storey buildings, while the single-story building has a clinic, restaurant, and court registry, plus a separate generator house.
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Simeon Amadi, described the project as an uncommon landmark achievement of the governor because he has solved the perennial and overbearing burden of lack of space that magistrates suffered.
On his part, the Attorney-General of Rivers State and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, SAN, said the project, which started on 23rd December 2021, was delivered in less than 15 months.
According to him, this demonstrates the passion and standard of projects associated with Governor Wike.
