The Bayelsa State Judiciary Complex—widely acclaimed as one of the finest High Court edifices in Nigeria—stands today as a silent witness to a troubling paradox: justice was housed in splendour, but denied to the very hands that built it.
REMATON SERVICES LIMITED dutifully executed and completed the construction of the Bayelsa State Judiciary Complex in 2010. Yet, fifteen years later, the company—now represented by its widowed alter ego, Architect (Pastor) Boma Ojokojo—is still being systematically denied payment for work fully delivered, certified, occupied, and enjoyed by the State.
In Suit No: YHC/26/2019, the High Court of Bayelsa State, per Hon. Justice D.E. Adokeme, on 15 January 2021, entered judgment in favour of REMATON SERVICES LIMITED, awarding the sum of ₦1,006,157,040.71, with 10% interest per annum until liquidation.
Rather than comply, the Bayelsa State Government—acting through the office of the Attorney-General, Biriyai Dambo, SAN—chose the path of procedural obstruction. A motion for stay of execution was filed and expressly refused. Instead, the Court ordered that the judgment sum be paid into an interest-yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Bayelsa State Judiciary within one week.
That order was never appealed.
That order was never obeyed.
For over three years, the Attorney-General—the chief law officer of the State—stood in open disobedience of a subsisting court order, even as the judgment debt continued to accrue interest and the contractor’s creditors closed in. As payment was withheld, interest ballooned, creditors sued, judgments were entered, and writs of fieri facias were levied against the company’s properties. A widow was forced to watch her husband’s legacy dismantled—brick by brick—by a government that continues to occupy and enjoy his work.
The irony is painful:
A Judiciary Complex built to uphold justice has become the symbol of injustice.
On 26 August 2024, the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, in Appeal No: CA/PH/100/2021, dismissed the appeal in its entirety. In a rare and scathing rebuke, Abubakar Mahmud Talba, JCA, condemned the oppressive conduct of those in governance, warning that there is a judgment beyond the courts of men.
Yet, in defiance of judicial finality and moral restraint, the Attorney-General – Mr. Biriyai Dambo, SAN proceeded to file a frivolous omnibus appeal to the Supreme Court— while still in contempt of the subsisting order of 10 March 2021.
This is not advocacy.
This is weaponization of the law.
This is institutional cruelty clothed in legal process.
Following persistent disobedience of the High Court’s order of 10 March 2021, REMATON SERVICES LIMITED was left with no choice but to activate the machinery of the law. Form 48—Notice of Consequences of Disobedience dated 23 April, 2025—was duly issued and served. Still, there was silence. Then came Form 49—Notice to Show Cause Why Order of Committal Should Not Be Made dated 29 April 2025.
Only then did the Attorney-General suddenly discover the language of settlement.
In correspondence dated 30 May 2025, the Respondents conveyed that His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State (Douye Diri), had approved ₦1.3 billion as full and final settlement, payable over 20 months, and requested a settlement agreement.
Trusting in good faith—and in the sanctity of negotiated resolution—REMATON SERVICES LIMITED suspended the contempt proceedings. By letter dated 2 September 2025, the widow-led company accepted the terms and proposed payment structure.
What followed was not payment.
What followed was silence.
The Attorney-General shut down communication entirely. A follow-up letter dated 10 October 2025, formally requesting a response, was received by his office on 13 October 2025. Till date, there has been no reply, no payment, no honour.
This pattern is not mere delay.
It is bad faith elevated to state policy.
Today, REMATON SERVICES LIMITED has resumed committal proceedings, asking the Court to do what the Attorney-General has refused to do—enforce obedience to the law.
This yuletide season, as families gather to celebrate hope, Architect (Pastor) Boma Ojokojo sits in sorrow— a widow punished not for wrongdoing, but for excellence.
The ethical failure here is profound. When an Attorney-General uses appeals without merit, disobedience of court orders, and false settlement overtures to exhaust a judgment creditor, the law ceases to be a shield and becomes a sword.
As the Court of Appeal warned:
_“Not even the apex Court is the end of judgment… We are all accountable to the Lord of Lords.”_
May the God who defends widows arise.
May those who mock justice feel its weight.
May the spirit of late Arch. Reuben Ojokojo speak where human voices are silenced.
And may Bayelsa State remember that power is temporary—but judgment is eternal.
-Advertisement-
Grab our latest Magazine, "Kelechi Amadi-Obi - Transcending the worlds of Law, Visual Art and Photography". Get your order fast and stress free.
For more details about Newswire Law&Events Magazine, kindly reach out to us on 08039218044, 09070309355. Email: newswiremagazine@yahoo.co.uk. You will be glad you did
Download E-MagazineDo you want to be heard, your events covered, your articles published, or need to advertise your products and services on our Blog and Magazine, reach out to us at Newswire Law and Events, you will be glad you did. For more details about our services, please call: 08039218044, 09070309355. Email: newswiremagazine@yahoo.co.uk
