A lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, has condemned the poor remuneration of judges and justices in the country, calling for an upward review of their salaries and allowances to build trust and reduce corruption in the dispensation of justice.
Ajulo told SaharaReporters that the remuneration of judges should be to commensurate with the selfless service they render, pointing out the need to have a system that would consider and reward indelible work and services rendered by the judges.
He said the judges were being denied so many things, including their social freedom and basic comfort of life to interact and relate freely with people.
“Their lifestyle has been taken away from them,” he said. “You cannot see a judge dancing in public, and you cannot see them making comments on social media. These are the things that must be considered in ensuring that they have the best.
“There should be a total review for both federal and state judges,” Ajulo added. “These are the people that dispense justice and injustices are being meted out to them, what an irony.
“These are the judges that sit over millions and billions of naira cases, but they are being paid a meagre amount of money. When we talk of salary, we are supposed to discuss job security.”
The Senate had recently lamented the low pay of judges, noting that their poor earning structure could make them compromise or become vulnerable to corruption in the course of their duties.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the salary of a Supreme Court justice per annum was N2.477 million, while that of the Court of Appeal was N1.995 million and High Court was N1.804million.
Bamidele said every month, the total earnings of a justice of the Supreme Court are N753,000 while the counterpart in the Court of Appeal is N608,000 and the High Court judge gets N556,000.
