•Review of remuneration is the first step in rebuilding the third arm of government

The move by President Bola Tinubu to improve the welfare package for judicial officers is commendable. Since 2008 when the emoluments were last reviewed, the judicial officers have used every opportunity to call for a fresh look into their case. However viewed, a monthly salary of less than half a million Naira for the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) who heads the third arm of government is unjustifiable.

That the previous government was unable to grant them decent wages even after government workers’ salaries had been enhanced is an indication that successive governments had little regard for them.

The expeditious treatment given the executive bill on the matter by the National Assembly, too, is commendable. It is an indication that all Nigerians are agreed that the judges are being poorly treated.

Over the years, handling the judges has badly affected the administration of justice. With galloping inflation and society’s higher expectations from the men and women saddled with adjudication of disputes, as well as interpretation of the laws, standards have constantly nosedived. Yet, the remuneration has made it difficult to attract the calibre of professionals to the Bench even as judges are not permitted to engage in other practices.

The Judiciary has come under heavy battering in recent years over real or perceived miscarriage of justice.

This has been more pronounced in election seasons. It is time to cleanse the system by ensuring that the best available in the public and private sectors are drawn to cross-fertilise ideas on the Bench. The willing academics and senior advocates must be brought on board in a bid to ensure that the society once again has respect for the Judiciary as repository of moral rectitude.

No society can grow and attract respect from foreign investors or even retain existing ones unless there is speedy and acceptable dispensation of justice.

Now that the Federal Government has expunged the judges from the general wage structure, other measures should complement the efforts. Training, locally and externally, should be stepped up for those who have been saddled with the task of keeping criminals out of the public space.

While appearing before the Senate recently, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, had said the justice sector contributed immensely to the festering insecurity in the land. He said insurgents and bandits are usually released into the society on bail as soon as they are arraigned in court.

The grundnorm makes provision for a National Judicial Council (NJC) that sees to maintenance of discipline in the arm of government. It is time for the council to sanitise the stable. The Judiciary is too central to good governance to be left to rot.

All those involved in judicial reform and administration should see this as an opportunity to reinvent the Judiciary in a way that would make it the pride of all.

As soon as the bill is passed to the presidency, we expect the President to sign it into law, and the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to do the needful in liaison with the Ministry of Budget Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Finance in urgently perfecting the papers. Where supplementary appropriation is needed, this should be prepared and passed to the National Assembly immediately. We expect that this would elicit the confidence of all in the Nigerian Judiciary.

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