The House of Representatives on Thursday called on the Federal Government to release to the National Judicial Council all outstanding funds approved for the judiciary in the Appropriation Act, 2016.
This followed a motion of urgent matter of public importance by Aminu Shagari, which was unanimously adopted by members through a voice vote.
Moving the motion, Shagari said that N70 billion was approved for the judiciary in the Act.
He said that by virtue of section 81(3) of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended), the approval was charged on the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.
Shagari said: “For that reason, the release of this sum to the National Judicial Council should be given priority, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, over and above any other public expenditure.
“Contrary to this clear intention of the drafters of our Constitution, the Federal Executive picks and selects when to and how much to release to the National Judicial Council.”
Shagari expressed worry that the failure of the federal executive to release budgetary allocation to the judiciary was an infraction of section 81 (3) of the Constitution which may lead to grounding the entire judiciary.
He said that any threat to the proper functioning of the judiciary was equally a threat to national peace and security.
In his contribution, Raphael Igbokwe said that the house should also use the opportunity to call on state governors to pay the backlog of workers’ salaries.
The House, therefore, mandated its Committee on Judiciary and Finance to liaise with relevant agencies to ensure compliance.
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