Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Monday confirmed Justice Olufunmilayo Olajumoke Atilade, the nominee of Governor Babatunde Fashola, for the position of Chief Judge of the state.

She was confirmed at plenary, after screening, involving questions and answers, by the lawmakers.

Before her appointment as the acting Chief Judge, Atilade, who is a sister to the immediate past Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, would be 62 by September.

Atilade who said she has spent half of her life working for Lagos State Judiciary became a magistrate at the age of 30 in 1982 and became a Judge in 1996.

While promising to complete the computerisation process of the judiciary started by her predecessor, Atilade said she would appeal for the appointment of more judges.

“We need about 100 judges to cope with the volume of work we have; right now we have about 50 judges and the work load is much for them, which means we need about 50 more judges”, she said.

She also promised to continue with the effort of her predecessor in the decongestion of prisons especially with those awaiting trial which she attributed to delay in DPP report.

After, answering questions from the lawmakers, Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji, however, urged the acting CJ to work on Section 270 of the 1999 Constitution as amended because a lot of things were being done wrong.

He added that by the constitutional provisions, it is the House of Assembly that should determine the number of judges for the state and not the governor.

Ikuforiji also informed her that it is her duty to write to the House to request for more judges and not to the executive.

http://dailyindependentnig.com/2014/08/lagos-assembly-confirms-atilade-new-cj