It was on Monday, September 23, 2019, at the special session to mark the beginning of the 2019 to 2020 legal year and the inauguration of 38 distinguished lawyers newly conferred with the honour of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad called for full financial independence for the judiciary. What the CJN called for should be taken seriously if we want to get the judiciary that we desire.
According to Justice Muhammad, “If you say that I am independent, but in a way, whether I like it or not, I have to go cap in hand, asking for funds to run my office, then I have completely lost my independence. It is like saying a cow is free to graze about in the meadow but at the same time, tying it firmly to a tree. Where is the freedom? We don’t pander to anybody’s whims and caprices. If there is any deity to be feared, it is the Almighty God.
“We will never be subservient to anybody, no matter his position in the society. Be that as it may, when we assess the judiciary from the financial perspective, how free can we say we are? The annual budget of the judiciary is still a far cry from what it ought to be. The figure is either stagnated for a long period or it goes on a progressive decline. I make bold to say that the salaries of judicial officers in Nigeria are still far from an ideal package to take home.
“Effort should be made by the relevant authorities to increase the salary and also work out measures to improve the welfare package of judicial officers, especially after retirement. I am using this medium to appeal to governments at all levels to free the judiciary from the financial bondage it has been subjected over the years.”
The present state of the Nigerian judiciary is not what any right thinking nation should be proud of. We are not where we are but we should make accelerated steps to get there. The judiciary is the last hope of the common man, just as it is the very platform upon which human rights and the enactment of the rule of laws stay. Nigeria belongs to us all. We cannot afford to leave the judiciary the way it currently is. The independence of the judiciary should be guaranteed and such can only begin with financial independence. Corruption festers when only one person dictates the pace of every other sector. This should no longer be allowed to stay.
The National Assembly must quickly do something to arrest the current trend by promulgating laws that would ensure the full operational independence of the various arms of government, in this case the judiciary. I hope those concerned would listen.
Lekan Mobolaji,
Abuja.
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