President Muhammadu Buhari has approved and directed that measures be taken for immediate implementation of the enhanced salary and welfare scheme for judicial officers.

President Buhari made this known on Friday at the official commissioning and handing over ceremony of Nabo Graham-Douglass Campus of the Nigerian Law School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to the Council of Legal Education.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, who represented Buhari at the occasion, commended the Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike for his wisdom in building the campus.

According to a statement by Dr. Umar J|ibrilu Gwandu, Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Buhari has directed the Chairman, Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission and Malami to promptly commence measures towards realization and implementation of enhanced salary and welfare scheme for the judicial officers in the country.

The President said this and many other initiatives were targeted at significantly strengthening the capacity and independence of the judiciary, which he said remained a pillar of strength and stability for the nation’s democracy.

“This administration will, therefore, continue to support efforts to transform the judiciary, as part of a critical strategy, in ensuring a fair, progressive and prosperous society, with the rule of law as its cornerstone,” he said.

The President also called on the judiciary to continue to uphold the ethics of their profession and operate with accountability and probity in the exercise of their judicial and administrative duties.

He also charged the Council of Legal Education to sustain the trust by optimally maintaining and running the project in furtherance of the quest to improve and sustain high standards in legal education.

“The legal profession thrives on sound learning, ethical values, and good character; therefore, it is our abiding duty to sustain high standards for those on whose shoulders rest the future of both the bar and the bench,” he said.

Buhari also congratulated the people of the State, the Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law and the entire justice sector family for the initiative, which he said culminated in the building and handing over of the new campus to the Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law School.

He described as commendable the naming the newly commissioned campus after Nabo Graham-Douglas, SAN; former Attorney-General of Eastern Nigeria, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Rivers State and Attorney-General of the Federation.