IN a very personal and proactive move, President Bola Tinubu has pushed for the increase of the pay of judicial officers nationwide. An Executive Bill sponsored by him to that effect was passed by the House of Representatives last week.
The Bill seeks to amend aspects of the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Officers (Salaries and Allowances, etc) Act, and could see the salary of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, jumping 800 per cent to N64.6 million per annum, while Supreme Court Judges will earn N60.47 million. There is also a package of other “non-regular” entitlements. The pay raise trickles down to every cadre of the judicial sector.
Predictably, critics of this move have alleged that the Judiciary is being rewarded for the “roles” they played during the 2023 general election and its aftermath, or the “role” they are expected to play in future elections. They accuse the president of making the three arms of government “comfortable” while majority of the populace continue to reel from hardship, worsening poverty and hunger.
They question the rationale behind setting aside judicial officers for such a hefty favour, leaving out those who are serving in equally or even more important sectors such as education and health.
On the other hand, the body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, has applauded the president for the initiative, and the House for its expedited action. We also join in commending the administration for this gesture and call on it to take further steps to ensure that the judiciary at all levels are financially autonomous to make the independence of the judiciary assured.
The third arm of government saddled with administering our criminal justice system should not in any way be tied to the apron strings of any of the other arms except within the principle of mutual checks and balances for maximum performance. We also call for more recruitments into the Bench to reduce the workload of judges, more so as election petitions, anti-corruption and terrorism cases have swollen the size of judicatory obligations waiting for attention.
It will be recalled that in June 2022, poor welfare was a major complaint of the Supreme Court Judges whose petition against the erstwhile CJN, Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, helped facilitate his resignation. With a comfortable remuneration and welfare package, judicial officers who wish to serve with integrity will be able to do so. We cannot weaponise poverty among our respected Benchers and still expect them to withstand temptation in discharging their power-packed duties.
However, we hope the 800 per cent raise is sustainable and not overdone in the current “dry well” atmosphere when the government is cutting costs. This albeit laudable gesture could trigger agitations from other sectors. We hope government took this inevitability into account.
