Appeal Court President Seeks FG To Review Judge’s Salaries
The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, has appealed to the Federal Government to conduct an upward review of the salaries of judicial officers in the country.
Justice Dongban-Mensem, while speaking at the maiden edition of the Court of Appeal Legal Year and Justices Retreat in Abuja on Monday, revealed that salaries of judicial officers had been stagnant for the past 10 years.
According to her, the Chief Justice of Nigeria earns a net pay of N279,497 monthly, while other justices on the Supreme Court bench earn N206,425 monthly.
Speaking further, she said, “As President of Court of Appeal, I receive N206,425, while other justices on the bench of the Court of Appeal go home with N166,285 every month.”
Justice Dongban-Mensem said it was disheartening that the salary structure for judicial officers and staff in Nigeria had consistently ranked poorly when compared to that of their counterparts in other African and Commonwealth countries.
She recalled that the last time salaries of judicial officers were reviewed was in 2008 and called on the Federal and State governments to live up to their obligations under the implementation of financial autonomy of state legislature and the state judiciary order, known as Executive Order 10.
She said, “I implore the government of the federation and states to urgently review the salaries and allowances of judicial officers and staff. The salaries of justices are static with no graduation as in the civil and public service. We have been on one salary grade for over 10 years now.
“May I also call on the government to increase financial allocations that will enable us to introduce technical innovations that would improve adjudication.”
On the performance of the Appeal Court under review, the president disclosed that a total of 5,392 appeals and 9,249 motions were filed in the 20 divisions of the Court in the last legal year between September 2020 to August 2021.
Out of the cases, Justice Dongban-Mensem revealed that 3,111 appeals were disposed along with 7,492 motions and added that out of the appeals 2, 169 appeals were dismissed while 942 appeals were upheld as of August 31, 2021.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, (SAN), assured the appellate court justices that the Federal Government was working to review the welfare of judicial officers generally to ensure greater efficiency.
He said, “I am happy to inform you that the Federal Government is once more revisiting the issue of the welfare of the judicial system generally. Very soon, the committee report, which is being accorded attention by the President, will certainly come to pass, and the welfare of the judiciary will, in effect, be enhanced accordingly for greater efficiency of the system.”
Malami also urged judges in the county to maintain the sanctity and credibility of the Court and not make justice a commodity for sale to the highest bidder.
He charged them to ensure that the sacred integrity reposed on the judges remain unshaken at all times in order to foster and promote public confidence in all rulings that emanate from this Court.
“Your resolve, as a temple of justice in ensuring that justice is not trivialised to a common bargain and is in effect accessible to all is highly commendable,” he said.
“I hereby also extend a call of solidarity, reverence and respect for the courts and court processes, to all our learned distinguished colleagues here present to ensure that justice is not trivialised to a commodity bargained for and taken by the highest bidder, at the detriment of the indigent who for want of equal bargaining power, wallow in the shadows of judicial neglect.”
Meanwhile, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) ‘disagreed’ with Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, over the independence of the judicial arm of government, at Monday’s event.
Adegboyega Awomolo, representing BOSAN, reminded Malami of the constitutional principle of separation of powers generally believed to have suffered undue attacks under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The administration’s penchant for disregarding court orders and the removal of the immediate-past Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnogen, precipitated by a controversial ex parte order issued by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), speak to the trend of serial disregard for the principle of separation of power by the administration.
Awomolo said, “I heard the Attorney General of the Federation say a committee of the presidency is looking at the condition of service, salaries and emoluments of judges.
“We need to be careful with that,” Awolowo warned.
He noted that it was time “the independence of the Judiciary and integrity of judges are not compromised anytime, anywhere and this circumstance”.
The senior lawyer admonished judges to be always courageous in dispensing justice.
