Nigeria judicial officers gulp N8.6bn as salaries and allowances annually

Owing to recent media speculations about money collected by the nation’s judicial officers, annually, it is necessary to lay bare at the public domain what the jurists are paid.  A total of 1,062 judicial officers, both at the federal and state levels, are in the payroll of the National Judicial Council (NJC).  While N2, 256, […]

Owing to recent media speculations about money collected by the nation’s judicial officers, annually, it is necessary to lay bare at the public domain what the jurists are paid.
 A total of 1,062 judicial officers, both at the federal and state levels, are in the payroll of the National Judicial Council (NJC).  While N2, 256, 351, 435.33bn was paid to the 248 federal judicial officers, including the chief justice of Nigeria, in 2015, a sum of N6, 398, 303, 106.64bn was paid as salaries and allowances to 814 states judicial officers.
 In other words, both the federal and states judicial officers earn the sum of N8.7b in payment of their salary and allowances per annum in Nigeria.
A further breakdown shows that there are 248 judicial officers working at the federal level comprising the chief justice of Nigeria, other justices of the Supreme Court, president of the Court of Appeal, other justices of the Court of Appeal and justices of the Federal High Court, Federal Capital Territory High Court, National Industrial Court, Shari’a Court of Appeal and Customary Court of Appeal and their heads.
 While there are 814 states judicial officers made up of 70 heads of court (i.e.36 chief judges, 17 grand khadis and 17 presidents of customary court of appeal) and 744 judicial officers.
The CJN’s annual basic salary is N3,353,972.50 (or N279,497.71 monthly), while other justices of the Supreme Court receive N2,477,110.00 as basic annual salary or N206,425.83 monthly. These earnings are exclusive of tax.
 By the time allowances are posted, the justices of the Supreme Court and CJN receive monthly salary alert of N480, 766.89, and N751, 000 respectively, in their bank account.
 The CJN’s net monthly salary is even lower than his lordship’s brother justices because of deductions made on account of other monetary and material provisions such as food items, which are provided to him by the federal government.
Again, among some of the misconceptions is that judges are paid furniture, accommodation, leave and accommodation allowances on monthly basis. Judges stay in government quarters and cannot, at the same time, be paid accommodation allowance.
Furniture allowance is paid every four years, while the leave allowance is earned once in a year. The car loan facility also added in their calculations is optional.
Out of N73bn appropriated for the judiciary in 2015, the states’ judiciary recurrent was N10.77bn and that of the federal was N41.60bn. The capital for the federal was N16.92bn, while states’ judiciary form part of the states governments budgets.
Behold, if the Nigeria judicial officers gulp up N33.47bn out of N52.33bn, what then is left to absorb the overheads,  salaries and wages of the administrative staff of the courts, National Judicial Council, Federal Judicial Service Commission, National Judicial Institute, Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, Body of Benchers and so on? 
 Take for instance, in 2015, N7.00bn was appropriated for the Supreme Court by the National Assembly. Out of that, while N304, 137,542.21 was budgeted for the ‘’consolidated salary of Justices’’ of the Supreme Court, N1, 122,909,366.76, N2,795,953,091.03 and N2,777,000,000.00 were budgeted for the Supreme Court staff salary, overhead and capital, respectively.
In other words, the Supreme Court staff salary appropriation was almost four times that of the justices of the apex court.
 The Court of Appeal in 2015 appropriation got N11.10bn, which was made up of N1.214bn consolidated salary of justices of the Court of Appeal, N2, 699bn personnel, N4.699bn overhead (including Elections Tribunals) and N2.496bn capital.
 These are the patterns of disbursement with the Federal High Court, Federal Capital Territory High Court, National Industrial Court and Customary Court of Appeal (FCT) that got N12.1bn, N7.0bn, N5.6bn and N3.05bn, respectively.
 It is, therefore, questionable to say that N33, 47bn was incurred by the CJN and the rest of judicial officers, annually, out of the miserable budgetary figures appropriated for the judiciary yearly.
 When one ventures to compare the salaries and purchasing power of Nigeria judges with their counterparts abroad, what he or she observes could be highly appalling.
 In the United States of America, while Chief Justice John Roberts earns $255,500 (or N118, 807,500) per year, the eight associate justices earn a healthy pay raise to $244,400 (N113, 646,000). The current salary for Supreme Court justices in the U.S. is significantly higher than the average salaries earned in related occupations.
 In 2010, the median salary for all judges and magistrates, regardless of level, was $119,270 (N55, 460,550). Federal circuit judges earned an average of $184,500 (N85, 792,500). Lawyers earned a median of $112,760 (N52, 433,400) annually.
 As of April 1, 2010, justices of the Supreme Court, including the deputy president, were in Group 2 of the judicial salary scheme, with an annual salary of £206,857 (N123, 700,486). This is the same group as the Chancellor of the High Court, Lord Justice Clerk, President of the Family Division and President of the Queen’s Bench Division.
 The President of the Supreme Court, Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Lord President of the Court of Session and Master of the Rolls, make up Group 1.1 of the scale on £214,165 (N128,070,670), below only the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, who earns £239,845 (N143,427,310).
 In South Africa, according to the latest report of the Independent Commission for the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, chaired by Judge Willie Seriti, judges in the high and labour courts earn annual salary of R1.4m (or N46.9m).
 Judge-presidents (heads of court) pocket R1.6m (N53.6m) a year, Constitutional and Supreme Court judges get R1.7m (N56.9m and the chief justice earns R2.3m (N77.0m), which is a far cry from what obtains in Nigeria.
 The package of the president of the Supreme Court is just over R2m a year. When they retire, judges are entitled to continue drawing their salary and other benefits, which continue to qualify for an annual increase.
 Doubtless, these princely sums would be quite inconceivable in Nigeria, yet, on average, our justices handle more than five times the number of cases that these apex courts adjudicate over.
 If one was to contextualise these further, the purchasing power of our dear Naira is quite poor when compared with what is obtainable in these other countries.  As such, making a comparison will be like comparing apples and oranges, chalk and cheese.
 It may as well be surprising to note that John Roberts, the 17th and current chief justice of the United States is just 61 years old. He took his seat on September 29, 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. And except by incapacitation, death or impeachment, he will hold this position for life.
 In contrast, the CJNs and the justices of the Supreme Court mandatorily vacate the Bench at 70 years of age, even when they are physically fit to compete with J.J. Okocha on the football pitch.
 Worst still, they are denied by our laws from going back to the Bar to practice, but rather to be soliloquising in the daytime and counting the stars in the night till the Lord demands for the return of his lordship.
Shortly after Justice Olufunlola Adekeye retired from the Supreme Court on October 28, 2012, she said that after 36 years in the service of the judiciary, she can’t look at a house she can go to as her own. And that is the fate of so many retiring judicial officers, except the few that were privileged to be heads of court.
 Also, during a valedictory court session held in his honour, Justice Adamu Bello, the erstwhile justice of the Federal High Court, Abuja, fingered poverty and lack of welfare package for judges as key factors behind the spate of judicial impunity currently ravaging the country.
 It is, therefore, not just dangerous to underfund the judiciary, but it is even more dangerous to input a hypothetical and gargantuan figure of N33.47bn as the nation’s judicial officers’ yearly earnings, when in the real sense they gulp N8.6bn annually.
 Ahuraka is the media aide to the CJN