By Deborah Onyofufeke
Immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, has lamented the poor payment of Judges, warning that unless the Supreme Court of Nigeria is adequately funded, the apex Court may soon at best end up a glorified High Court.
Onnoghen bitterly expressed that Justices of the apex court have been suffering in silence since the last time their salaries and emoluments were last reviewed by the government which he said was in 2008
The former CJN made the call to the government to review the welfare allowances of the apex court judges on Thursday in Abuja, at the public presentation of Nigeria’s first law book on Construction Law
Onnoghen revealed that some Justices of the apex court still live in rented accommodations in unsuitable areas in the Federal Capital Territory.
He added that besides poor residential accommodation issues, the chambers of the Supreme Court Justices are unbefitting of their status
Onnoghen stated that the Supreme Court judges alongside the inadequate funding, are still been overworked
He said the apex court Justices bear the brunt of it all. He said the appeal case should not get to the Supreme Court as of right but by leave of the court, to eliminate congestion in the workload of the court.
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He appealed that the court is properly funded to enable the Justices to perform optimally in a conducive atmosphere.
He recalled that while in office as CJN, he headed a team comprising the Attorney General of the Federation AGF as well as Solicitor General of the Federation SGF which prepared a new welfare scheme on the order of the federal government and lamented that since his exit, the Welfare Scheme Report which would have enhanced the condition of service of the Justices hasn’t been pushed through
He, therefore, pleaded that funding of the Judiciary should be immediately looked into to improve it because of the critical role of the Judiciary in nation-building.
“The Judiciary is not Nigeria’s problem but bad leadership. There must be a rethink on issues affecting the Judiciary because without, a strong legal profession, you cannot talk of the rule of law”, he said.
He commended the author of the book Mrs. Ewuwuni O.nnoghen-Theophilus and pleaded that youths should be encouraged to enable them to to contribute meaningfully to the general development of the country.
Also speaking at the book presentation, a former AGF Chief Bayo Ojo SAN praised the resourcefulness of the author and expressed optimism that the book would serve as a veritable ta tool to address the crisis bedevilinconstructionhe n industry in Nigeria.
Also speaking at the occasion, the publisher of the book, a senior lawyer, Chief James Onoja, SAN, opined that laws on the construction n industry as brought out in the book would serve as a guide to pyearsyers in the construction industry, especially in the incessant cases of collapse structure.
