Feb. 15, 2022

…Not objected to financial autonomy for Judiciary, Legislature

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has said although governors are duty-bound to pay the allowances of judges, they are not duty-bound to pay their salaries as it is the responsibility of the National Judicial Council.

He also noted that the governors do not object to financial autonomy for the judicial and legislative arms of government.

“Governors have no objection to financial autonomy for the judicial arm of government or the legislative arm of government,” Fayemi said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

The Supreme Court had on Friday struck out the N66 billion suit filed by the state governors against the Federal Government. The apex court, however, declared as unlawful and unconstitutional, Executive Order 10 (EO10) on the funding of State Judiciary and Legislature.

“However, it is clear that it is an autonomy that is based on the resources available to the state. It cannot just be an arbitrary autonomy in which you award funds without reason to any arm of government.

“For judges of the high court, the Sharia court, industrial court and the state and federal high court, we are not responsible for their salary. The National Judicial Council is responsible for their salary.”

The governor also bemoaned the salary structure for judges, calling on the authorities to urgently review it.