Acting on the report of a committee he set up in April 2022, headed by retired Justice Eyo Effiong Ita and the State Head of Service, Timothy Ogbang Akwaji as Secretary, and mandated to review the salaries and welfare packages of judicial officers in Cross River State, Governor Ben Ayade recently, at the Executive Chamber of the Governor's Office in Calabar, announced a new bouquet of packages for the judicial workers. The new packages take effect from August 1, 2022.
They include:
1. Increment of salaries of State High Court Judges by 100 per cent.
2. Increment of salaries of Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal by 100 per cent.
3. Increment of salaries of Magistrates by 50 per cent.
4. Immediate allocation of land to all judicial officers in the State.
5 Ready-for-delivery official car for every judicial officer sworn in.
6. Approval of 500 new jobs in the State judicial service; in phase one.
7. Setting aside of 25 per cent of gross emoluments to support judicial officers' allowances for vacation, travels, amongst others.
It is sheer braggadocio and an affront on extant laws for any governor for that matter to continue to insult the judiciary by this continued extension of tokenism to another equal arm of government in a beggarly manner. First and foremost, our constitution in two clear provisions, says the money of the Judiciary and infact, the Legislature as well, is to go direct to them from first line charge.
Section 81 (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended says that:
"The amount standing to the credit of the – c. 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 to the heads of the courts established for the Federation and the States under section 6 of this Constitution. In the case of the Judiciary, the account of the National Judicial Council shall be credited to be distributed by it to the heads of the Courts of the Federation and the States."
While Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, provides that: "Any amount standing to the credit of the – (a)House of Assembly of the State; and (b) Judiciary in the Consolidated revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the said bodies respectively; in the case of the judiciary, such amount shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned."
President Buhari also issued the Executive Order 10 of 2020, in the exercise of his powers under Section 5 of the Constitution stating that: "the Accountant-General of the Federation shall by this Order and any such other Orders, Regulations or Guidelines as may be issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, authorize the deduction from source in the course of Federation Accounts Allocation from the money allocated to any State of the Federation that fails to release allocation meant for the State Legislature and State Judiciary in line with the financial autonomy guaranteed by Section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended)."
In addition to these constitutional provisions, superior courts in the following cases: Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria Vs National Judiciary Council & Governors of the 36 States in suit No: FHC/Abj/Cs/667/13. Olisa Agbakoba Vs FG, The NJC & National Assembly suit No. FHC/Abj/Cs/63/2013 and Olisa Agbkaoba Vs AG, Ekiti State & 2 others suit No. NAD/56/2013, have also decided clearly on the financial autonomy of the judiciary. Following these clear provisions of the law, it therefore amounts to rascality for any governor in Nigeria to continue to trample on the law and try to make it look like they are doing the judiciary a favor by giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
Talking about his approval of employment of 500 new staff for the judiciary, I should remind those it may concern that, Governor Ayade since taking office has made 14 sham employment announcements that no one was employed. He has also approved several promotions and salary increments that were never effected till date. So promising another round of employment now is not very different from the precedent he has set. It is also a usurpation of the powers of the State CJ, who alone is responsible for the approval of who the judiciary should hire, pay or fire and not the governor. You believe the Governor only at your own peril. Yours sincerely will continue to doubt him until he proves us all wrong.
Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.
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