On Wednesday, Nigeria’s Senate passed a bill seeking to increase the salaries, allowances, and other benefits of judicial officers in the country.
The bill, earlier passed by the House of Representatives, is expected to be assented to by the President later this week. President Bola Tinubu had asked the national assembly to expedite action on the bill.
The bill proposes an annual salary of N64 million to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, while The President of the Court of Appeal will earn N62.4million. The Justices of the Supreme Court will earn the sum of N61.4m each.
The Heads of other various courts, such as the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, the President of the National Industrial Court, among others, would earn the same basic salary of N7.9 million annually.
The new salaries and allowances represent a 300 percent increase from the current earnings of the judicial officers.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary disclosed that the increment under consideration had been accommodated in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
Various stakeholders had recently voiced their support for the call to increase the salaries of judges in the country, which they said was last reviewed 17 years ago.