A number of days in the past, legal professionals woke as much as emails, one from the President of the Nigerian Bar Affiliation (NBA,) Mr. Y.C. Maikyau, SAN, and one other from the Affiliation’s publicity secretary as regards to evaluation of judicial officers’ wage. The e-mail was not pretentious that it was Maikyau and his workforce (and never anybody else), who initiated the entire concept of the evaluation of judicial officers’ salaries. Name it an ostentatious assertion of possession proper and you wouldn’t be incorrect.
Within the e mail which was circulated to all legal professionals, Mr. Maikyau acknowledged:“By the grace of God Almighty, and with none intention of sounding conceited, we efficiently undertook this process which culminated into the enactment of the Judicial Workplace Holders (Salaries and Allowances, And so on) Act, 2024, which was a product of constructive engagement with all of the arms of Authorities.”
However is Maikyau truly the “brain-father” of the Judicial Workplace Holders (Salaries and Allowances, And so on) Act, 2024? The entire concept far precedes his ascension to the presidency of the NBA. I recall that reviews of an ongoing course of had been within the information, lengthy earlier than Maikyau turned the President of the NBA.
The Physique Of Benchers’ InterventionThe street to the evaluation of remuneration of judicial officers has little question been a torturous one, with many harrowing bends and bumpy stretch. Way back to 2018, underneath the federal government of Muhammadu Buhari, there had been a report, proposing a evaluation of judicial salaries and circumstances of service. Whereas the report continued to assemble mud on the president’s shelf, a uncommon diatribe emerged from the Justices of the Supreme Court docket, round June, 2022, with bitter complaints concerning the situation of service of the court docket and the nation’s judiciary at giant.
The primary regulatory physique within the authorized career to react to this, was the Physique of Benchers, then chaired by Mr. Wole Olanipekun who wrote to all of the Justices of the Supreme Court docket, urging them to train persistence whereas the Physique engages with the related stakeholders in the direction of addressing their complaints. Physique of Benchers’ sources has it that Olanipekun had arrange a Judicial Advisory Committee headed by the previous Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, with representatives from the NBA and the Judiciary. The identical sources additionally revealed that the then Chairman of the Physique of Benchers engaged the consulting agency of Earnst& Younger to do a comparative evaluation of salaries and emoluments of judicial officers throughout the commonwealth international locations, with a view to attaining an internationally acceptable scale.
It was within the information that in July2022, Olanipekun led different Benchers to Buhari to register their issues and to “parley” with the then Presidenttowards addressing the difficulty. It was in furtherance of those engagements that the President directed the Income Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Fee (RAMFC) to start the method of implementation of the 2018 report, pending the conclusion of the Earnst& Younger report commissioned by the then Physique of Benchers management.
Whereas the engagements with Buhari and his eventual dedication occurred round July2022, Maikyau didn’t grow to be the President of the NBA till 26 August, 2022. On the commissioning of the Physique of Benchers Advanced on September29, 2022, Mr. Buhari acknowledged the assiduous efforts of the Physique of Benchers and its management, in his tackle, when he stated:“I’m not unaware of the fervour and dedication of Chief Olanipekun in championing the reason for the welfare of Judicial Officers in Nigeria, in addition to the dedication of the Physique of this purpose. Could I restate my dedication in the direction of this perfect and to reiterate our administration’s willingness to implement the 2018 Report of the Committee on the Assessment of Judicial Salaries and Situations of Service.In comparable vein, I’ve been intimated on the engagement of Consultants by the Physique, by its Advisory Judicial Committee, to amongst different issues, provide you with a peer evaluation of the circumstances of service of Judicial Officers in Nigeria with different international locations and jurisdictions, inside and out of doors Africa. I earnestly stay up for the completion of this peer evaluation and the submission of advice, as this may help us in no small measure, in our evaluation of the welfare packages.”
Earnst& Younger’s findings have been documented in a report, which was submitted to the President, the RAMFC, the Nationwide Meeting and different stakeholders within the worth chain. It will later be found that the N15 Million skilled charges of Earnst& Younger have been personally borne by the duo of Olanipekun and the present Legal professional-Basic of the Federation, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi at a ratio of 10:5. Little doubt, the report offered a foundation and sources for the legislative processes that adopted, earlier than the eventual enactment of the Act.
Joint Efforts Of Senior Attorneys And The Judicial StaffLong earlier than the intervention of the Physique of Benchers, the eminent Senior Advocate, Mr. OlisaAgbakoba had in two separate actions, that’s, Swimsuit Nos. FHC/ABJ/CS/63/2013 and Swimsuit No: NAD/56/2013, towards varied governmental stakeholders, together with the Federal Authorities, the Nationwide Judicial Council, the Nationwide Meeting, Ekiti State Authorities, and so forth., obtained judgments in his private capability, granting monetary autonomy of the judiciary.
Extra just lately in 2022, one other revered Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Sebastain Hon, in his private capability and supported by over 100 members of the Inside Bar and 30 members of the Outer Bar, showing as counsel, made one other try by an motion towards the Nationwide Meeting (NASS), the Legal professional-Basic of the Federation (AGF), the Nationwide Judicial Council (NJC) and the Income Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Fee (RMAFC), over the poor wage of judges in Nigeria. This motion predatedMaikyau’s assumption of workplace as NBA President, even when very grey hairs like Solomon Awomolo, SAN, J.B. Daudu, SAN, OCJ Okocha, SAN, Kanu Agabi, SAN, and E.C. Ukala, SAN, registered their unequivocal help, each in court docket look and preparation of processes. Or what do you say of the daunting efforts of the handlers of the Judiciary Employees Union of Nigeria, who had in January, 2014, obtained judgment towards the Nationwide Judicial Council and the Governors of the 36 States of the Federation to court docket, over the identical subject?
Males had dedicated their voices, goodwill, efforts, mind and sources to the trigger which has ultimately culminated on this end result. Little doubt, the story is probably not full and not using a point out of Mr. Maikyau’s identify, as his voice was very loud in help of a evaluation of wage evaluation for judicial officers. Nonetheless, he solely arrived on the racecourse at a time the horse had already bolted. He’s at finest, a joint tenant with a number of different tenants, proudly owning very restricted curiosity within the pool.
• Joseph, a Public Affairs Analyst, wrote from Lagos.
