The Senate is set to hold a public hearing on the proposed upward review of judges’ salaries, allowances, and fringe benefits for judicial officers nationwide.
According to The PUNCH, this comes after the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters received a bill from President Bola Tinubu seeking to increase judges’ salaries by over 800 percent.
The public hearing is scheduled to hold on Monday at 12 pm.
The notice, signed by the Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Mohammed Monguno, invited the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to make a presentation to the Senate and the general public.
“The Senate, at its Plenary Sitting, considered the judiciary officers (salaries and Allowances etc.) Bill 2024, and referred same to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative action.
“The committee in furtherance of its mandate held a series of meetings and for further consultation resolved to conduct a public hearing with a view to eliciting comments/viewpoints on the bill from stakeholders and members of the general public. In this regard, I hereby forward to you, on behalf of the committee, a copy of the bill for your comment and suggestions, if any ahead of the public hearing.”
The proposed bill seeks to increase the annual basic salary and allowances of the Chief Justice of Nigeria to N64.6 million, while other Justices of the Supreme Court would earn over N60 million annually.
The development has received the backing of several Senior Advocates of Nigeria, who argue that well-remunerated judicial officers would be less susceptible to corruption.
The House of Representatives had earlier passed the bill for a third reading, and the Senate is now seeking input from stakeholders and members of the public before proceeding with the legislation.
The public hearing is expected to provide an opportunity for citizens to share their views and comments on the proposed bill.
