Judiciary stakeholders have identified poor salaries for Magistrates and Sharia Court judges as the major bane militating effective administration of justice in the country.
They also said poor conditions of service and enabling working environment exposed them to life threatening situations.
The stakeholders, including Magistrates, judicial workers and activists, spoke in Bauchi, Dutse and Gombe while responding to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria on remuneration of Magistrates and judges.
Bello Salisu, the Chairman, Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria in Bauchi, decried the low salaries of Magistrates in the state.
Salisu said that Magistrates earn less than N200,000 salary per month, adding that the poor renumeration indicated a lack of judicial autonomy in the state.
He said: “Salaries for the Magistrates is nothing to write home about regardless of our economic situation.
“If a Magistrate will be collecting that amount of money as his salary, what do you expect if somebody brings something to him?
“Judicial autonomy is when the judiciary is completely independent from the Executive arm of government.
“In Nigeria, the judiciary is still under the Executive arm of government.
“It is the executive that pays the judiciary, which is not supposed to be.”
According to Salisu, judicial autonomy guarantees financial independence to enable the judiciary to manage its finances, including payment of salaries and allowances, maintenance of courtrooms and provision of utility vehicles.
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He said that some of the courts operate in rented structures in the state, a trend which exposed the judiciary to ridicule.
Corroborating Salisu, Abdulmumini Aminu, the Chairman, Magistrates Association of Nigeria, expressed concerned over the indiscriminate use of commercial vehicles by Magistrates and transportation of inmates in the state.
Aminu said: “We are resident Magistratesm but we are without official residence or vehicles in our duty posts.
“In the area of training and retraining, Magistrates in this jurisdiction are lagging behind in comparison to other jurisdictions due to lack of sponsorship.”
It will be recalled that the state Governor, Bala Mohammed, on August 5, 2022 assented to the bill granting financial autonomy to the judiciary and the legislature.
The bill repealed the Bauchi State Separation of Account Judiciary Law 2019.
The bill is designed to ensure prompt release of funds to each of the three arms of government under the Consolidated Statutory Revenue Fund.
It also aimed at ensuring that the judiciary and legislature are completely independent and autonomous.
Similarly, Muneer Sarki, the MAN Chairman in Jigawa State, said lack of incentives to motivate Magistrates negatively impacted justice administration.
Muneer, who is also a Chief Magistrate, said: “There is no motivation at all.
“We discharge our duties with fear of God, bearing in mind that we are serving our state and the people.
“The general welfare is very poor.
“This is because a Magistrate’s salary will hardly take him to the end of the month.
“Aside from salaries, we are only being given N10,000 fuel allowance and it is static for the past 20 years.
“Previously, we enjoyed wardrobe and furniture allowances, but the immediate past administration divided it into 12 to be paid monthly.”
Muneer said the state government provided official vehicles to only the High Court Judges every four years, adding: “Unlike High Court Judges who go abroad, get new cars every four years, Magistrates don’t get all these privileges.”
He said that between 2013 and 2014, the state government distributed 24 cars to the Magistrates and Sharia Court Judges, adding that the present administration also approved N2 million car loan for the Magistrates in the state.
He, however, called for the upward review of the facility to enable them to purchase good cars.
In the same vein, Dalhatu Musa, the Chairman of MAN in Gombe State, urged the state government to settle entitlements and outstanding allowances owed to Magistrates.
According to Musa, the state laws entitled the Magistrates to car loans every four years, among others.
This, he said, was imperative to facilitate payment of the entitlements to enhance their performances.
He also commended the state government for ensuring better renumeration for the Magistrates, adding: “It is reasonably better than our counterparts in the North East region.
“Our remuneration are dictates of the Gombe Magistrates State Council and Area Court Judges Harmonisation of Condition of Service Law 2008.
“This elevated form gives us better package compared to our counterparts in other state in the region.”
Musa, however, said the workload for the Magistrates had increased sequel to the introduction of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, which removed criminal jurisdiction from the Area Court.
He, therefore, called for the digitisation of the courts and deployment of modern security apparatus to protect them and enhance justice administration in the state.
NAN.
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