The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has declared to further push for an improvement in the remuneration of judicial officers.

The body said its resolve to push for a review of judicial officers’ remuneration stems from the fact that besides being poorly paid, access to justice by Nigerians might be affected considering the harsh prevailing economic realities of the country.

Speaking on Tuesday at a breakout session at the ongoing 2023 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) holding in Abuja, panelists on the ‘Overview of NBA’s Memo to RMAFC on judicial remuneration’ said the peculiarities of the judicial officers made it imperative that their remuneration reflect the circumstances governing their role in safeguarding justice for all.

The NBA has also demanded that the Federal government remove from the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and establish a separate body that will determine the remuneration of the judicial officers.

The lead speaker at the session, Olawale Fapohunda, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ekiti State said the NBA had a report on the subject that took into consideration all the peculiarities of the sector about the prevailing economic realities.

He said the NBA is recommending a 200% increment in the judicial officer’s remuneration.

The Revenue Mobilizations Allocation Commissioner said it recommended a 114% increment based on the new salary structure.

Fapohunda, in his lead presentation said the NBA took into consideration the need to ensure judicial independence and the effects of its suppression under any guise on the society before taking on the task of reviewing the situation.

He said the need to properly remunerate the judicial officer led to a comprehensive comparative study of some African countries including South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana and where it was discovered that the Nigerian judicial officers are the least paid.

Fapohunda said the NBA will continue to engage all critical stakeholders towards the realization of the review.

However, Farouk Abubakar, the RMAFC Commissioner for Kano State disclosed that while the NBA studied judges’ remunerations from 6 African countries, the Commission went around several countries beyond Africa before action was taken on the subject.

He also disclosed that the prevailing remuneration package of the judicial officer did not suggest that the government was not oblivious to their importance to society.

He said the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) currently earns more than the Vice President and the Senate President while the Justices of the Supreme Court earn higher than Senators while in the States, the Chief Judges earn higher than the State legislators.

He however stated that in a report on the review of the judicial officers, the Commission has proposed an increment of 114 percent in line with the new extant salary structure.

He said though the immediate past President could not sign the report, the Commission would seize the opportunity to further review the remunerations to conform with the fuel subsidy removal and other economic changes.

Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Rivers State gave the Rivers State experience under the last political dispensation which he implored other State governments to emulate.

He said the independence of the judiciary cannot be guaranteed without financial independence.

According to him, the then governor believed that judicial officers of Rivers State origin either by birth or marriage, even as Federal workers were given special recognition with special incentives to motivate them against compromising their work.

He said comprehensive financial security, with enhanced remuneration package, secured accommodation incentive, comprehensive and enduring transportation scheme as well as a very good working environment were provided for the State Judges across the board.

He said when these are taken care of, the judicial officers would be able to carry out their duties without apprehension.

Anthony Ojukwu (NSA), who is the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said judicial officers are entitled to wages that will consider their peculiarities.

He said fair wages for judicial officers are important because of their importance to society and if they are exposed then society will be endangered.

He said: “Today the greatest challenge facing the Judiciary and the legal profession as a whole relates to allegations of corruption against judicial officers. This impinges directly ability of the judiciary and the legal profession towards ‘getting it right’ to dispense justice impartially and independently.

“It is my position that a practical approach to ‘getting it right’ in dealing with alleged cases of rampant corruption will be to pay judicial officers “fair wages” in line with the recommendation of NBA to RMAFC,” he said.

The conference continues today. (The Nation)

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