AGF backs salary review of judicial workers

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has backed the proposed upward review of salaries of judicial workers.

The bill proposing the review is currently before the National Assembly for legislative framework and has progressed to public hearing which took place on Monday.

According to the AGF, the judicial office holders’ salaries and allowances bill 2024 is quite innovative, aside from the increment in the basic salary.

He said the bill takes care of certain peculiarities of the administrative structure and operation of the judiciary, noting that it will boost morale of staff, if passed into law

“The present day sad reality is that the judiciary has stagnated on the same salary scale for over 16 years”, saying this is totally unacceptable and quite antithetical to any meaningful judicial reform,” he said.

In his submission at a one-day public hearing of the Senate Committee on Judiciary Human Rights and Legal Matters on Monday, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, while supporting the bill, opined that the judiciary is the pillar of democracy, congratulated leader of the Senate, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele for initiating a bill for welfare of judicial officers in Nigeria.

“I request the swift passage of this bill,” Edun said.

Other stakeholders who spoke include the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who bemoaned that for seventy years, judicial officers earned the same salary.

The CJN, represented by the Chief Judge of Borno State, Kashim Zana, urged the 10th Senate to pass what he called deprivation law.

“Judges across Nigeria, are in critical condition in the ‘Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and should be moved from ICU,” Ariwoola added.

The Chairman of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal matters, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, reiterated the commitment of Lawmakers to embark on reforms that would reposition the judiciary through an articulated remuneration.

“We must ensure that they are paid remuneration commensurate with the gravity of their work and the high moral standards expected of them,” he said.