Delayed salaries of judges

Reports that Chief Justice of Nigeria [CJN] Justice Mahmoud Mohammed and all judges and other staff of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court as well as the National Judicial Council had not received their January salaries when February salaries were already due foretells danger in the public service and […]

Reports that Chief Justice of Nigeria [CJN] Justice Mahmoud Mohammed and all judges and other staff of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, National Industrial Court as well as the National Judicial Council had not received their January salaries when February salaries were already due foretells danger in the public service and could prevent a successful outcome of the Presidency’s anti-corruption war. Those affected include 15 Supreme Court Justices, nearly 90 Appeal Court justices, 88 Federal High Court judges and 19 judges of the National Industrial Court as well as their staffers who are in thousands.
It is true that non-payment of salary as and when due has becoming something of a pandemic in Nigeria. School teachers have been suffering from this problem for many years. In the past year thousands of civil servants in Federal, state and local government service also went without pay for many months. Some federal and state agencies and parastatals sometimes go months or even years without paying salaries. Sometimes policemen also fall into this category. This is not to mention pensioners, for whom payment has come to be regarded as a favour.
The alleged reason for the delay in paying judges and judicial workers is paucity of funds. This excuse is curious because the Judiciary is on First Line Charge from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. Section 81(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that “the amount standing to the credit of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the National Assembly and the Judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation shall be paid directly to the said bodies respectively…. In the case of the Judiciary such amount shall be paid to the National Judicial Council for disbursement.”
The Constitution did not single out these three agencies for special financial treatment for nothing. Even though INEC sometimes complains, it is reasonably well funded, given the very visible nature of elections. The National Assembly too sometimes complains about delayed release of funds but this arm of government has more political power than the Judiciary. It is the judges that are handicapped because they cannot speak openly like the legislators do, so in most cases they have to suffer in silence. It is not so much their suffering, serious though it is, that is the issue now but the danger of delaying salary payment to a group of citizens that have literal powers of life and death over other citizens.
When a powerless person is denied his dues he can only grumble and agitate. However, judges sit everyday on cases that involve money, power, status, freedoms and liberties of other citizens. They adjudicate in cases involving billions of naira; they have the power to make rulings that confer status and advantages and fulfil human dreams and egos; and they can take away a person’s freedom for years or even his life. To delay salary payments to such a group and their staffers is dangerous, mildly stated.
Some Nigerians may wonder whether this delayed salary payment for judges and their staffers has anything to do with President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent statement in Addis Ababa, where he said the judiciary is his main problem. We do not believe there is a link between the unfortunate presidential utterance and the delayed salaries and the presidency should move promptly to end this problem lest more people get the impression that there is indeed a link.
It is true that the country as a whole has fallen on hard times and governments at all levels are not getting anywhere near the revenues they used to receive. Still, we must place our priorities correctly. Promptly paying salaries to all categories of workers for work done is a sacred duty of political leaders. When it comes to officials with power such as judges and security agents, delaying payment of their salaries is a double risk for society as a whole.