Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has said the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of a 300 per cent pay rise for judicial officers.
Fagbemi said this, yesterday at the 12th convocation of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) in Ekiti State.
“One ongoing concern before I took office was the poor remuneration of judicial officers,” the AGF said at the event’s grand finale, where he was conferred with an honorary doctorate in law.
“I am again pleased to report that a major intervention of the Tinubu administration in the judiciary is the recent 300 per cent upward review of the remuneration of judicial officers in Nigeria across the board. I can confirm that the implementation of this has begun in earnest.”
He described the move as “an important first step” in the President Bola Tinubu administration’s resolve to “strengthen the judiciary”.
Tinubu had, in August, signed into law a bill seeking a 300 per cent increase in salaries and allowances for judicial officials.
IN another development, the Federal Government, yesterday, vowed to address allegations of manipulation threatening the delivery of justice.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, said at the foundation-laying ceremony for the construction of judges’ quarters in the Katampe District of Abuja, that the Federal Government was making efforts to insulate the judiciary from manipulation and inducement.
The new quarters will accommodate 40 houses for different categories of judges. It has a completion timeline of 15 months.
Noting that the independence of the judiciary was paramount to the Federal Government, Wike expressed the determination of President Bola Tinubu to improve the living conditions of the judges.
He said: “Mr President has said the conditions of service are critical to the independence of the judiciary. If you want to insulate the judiciary from manipulation, from interference of either the legislature or the executive, what is important is the conditions of service, one of which has to do with their remuneration. Of course, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General has said that one of the first things that Mr President did was to amend the salaries and allowances of judicial officers in 2024, which was just assented to by Mr President. That, of course, is to give them hope.
It is to make sure that the allowances and salaries are up to the level that they can say yes or no.
“Another condition of service that is very, very critical in insulating the Judiciary from interference is housing. Every man needs housing; and so also do judicial officers. And so, every judge will know that at the end of the day, as he or she is retiring from office, he or she has a home.”
In her remarks, Minister of State FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, thanked the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and other members of the Federal Executive Council “for their continued support for our initiatives.”
