Grant Judiciary Financial Autonomy, CJ Tells Govs

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, yesterday challenged governors to respect the constitutional provision of the independence of the judiciary by ensuring its financial autonomy.

He said the only way government could reposition the country’s judicial system was to ensure its full autonomy, saying anything short of that would be abuse of rule of law which he described as undemocratic.

Speaking at the commissioning of Justice Umar Abdullahi Judiciary Health Centre in Katsina, Muhammad said the three tiers of government were partners in ensuring good governance but judiciary has been hampered to perform ultimately because of financial dependence on the executive arm.

Muhammad, who was represented by the Supreme Court Judge, Justice Uwani Musa Abba-Aji, said Nigeria remains the country with highest numbers of litigations per judge and judges work long hours manually thereby imposing dangers on their health, welfare and lifestyles, hence the call for judicial autonomy.

He said: “The branches of government as provided for under the constitution are partners for ensuring good governance and sustenance of democracy, unfortunately the judicial arm is in most cases hampered to perform ultimately as a result of financial dependence on the executive branch.

“I will continue to reiterate my calls to governors to respect the independence of the judiciary by ensuring the financial autonomy of the court, anything short of this will only amount to abuse of rule of law which is undemocratic.”

He, however, lauded Katsina State Government for building the healthcare centre for judiciary officers and staff, describing it as the first ever health facility in the history of the judiciary in Nigeria.