Ideally suited Courtroom justices should not earn not up to N15m per 30 days — Adeyanju

A human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has raised concerns over the welfare of members of the bench, saying the Nigerian Supreme Court justices shouldn’t earn less than N15m monthly.

He also vowed to use the instrumentality of the law to advocate better welfare of justices and ensure no apex court justice earns less than N15m per month.

The activist made the pledge in a statement he signed on Wednesday titled “My commitment to Nigerians as I joined the largest bar in Africa.”

He said, “It is indeed shameful that while governors, lawmakers, and even their aides earn humongous amounts under a four-year term, members of the judiciary who have dedicated their entire life to doing justice to all manner of persons earn peanuts. A judiciary where a Supreme Court Justice earns barely N3m per month is a judiciary vulnerable to corruption. I will use the instrumentality of the law to advocate that no Supreme Court justice should earn less than N15m per month.

“I will commit my time, resources and knowledge of the law to the fight against corruption. In almost all areas of our national life, corruption has become pervasive and there is no better time than now for us to confront this monster. I will, as often as possible urge the relevant security agencies to investigate allegations of corruption and where they fail to do so, I will seek orders of mandamus compelling them to do their jobs, as well as fiats from the Attorney General of the Federation to prosecute corruption cases.”

He promised to also continuously seek the interpretation of knotty constitutional issues that affect the well-being of Nigerians.

“As I join the largest bar in Africa and become a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, today, my commitment to Nigerians is that I will use the knowledge and instrument of the law to advocate for the downtrodden, the oppressed and all those who are unable to speak out or defend themselves.

“I will take up human rights cases on pro bono basis and ensure that no oppressed Nigerian goes to bed unable to defend his God-given and Constitutional rights because he could not afford a lawyer,” he added.

A retiring member of the bench at the Supreme Court, Justice Musa Dattijo, had in October 2023 during his valedictory service, bemoaned how the judiciary has been emasculated by inadequate funding.

He said, “Beyond the issue of the salaries of Justices remaining static with no graduation for over 15 years now, it is instructive to enquire what the judiciary also does with its allocations. Who is responsible for the expenditure? An unrelenting searchlight needs to be beamed to unravel how the sums are expended.

“Notwithstanding the phenomenal increases in the sums appropriated and released to the judiciary, Justices and officers’ welfare and the quality of service the judiciary render has continued to decline.

“It may interest one to know that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court earns more than the Justices. While she earns N1.2m per month, justices take home N751,000 in a month. The CJN on his part takes home #400,000 plus. The salary of a Justice, curiously, drops rather than increases when he gets the added responsibility of being a CJN.

“That the unjust and embarrassing salary difference between the justices and the Chief Registrar still abides remains intriguing to say the least. Valedictory session after valedictory session lapses and challenges that should be nipped are restated to no avail. Why the silence and seeming contentment?”