Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state has appealed to the federal government and the National Judicial Council (NJC) to upscale the wages of judges and other judicial officers in the country.
Governor Tambuwal made the appeal weekend in Sokoto when he swore-in five judges of the state high courts and two khadis for the state Sharia courts.
Those sworn-in as High Court Judges are: Bashar Ibrahim, Fatima Ahmad Suka, Abubakar Adamu, Kabiru Muhammad and Amina Modi Yabo; while Idris Adamu and Mustafa Abdullahi Ahmad were sworn-in as Khadis.
Last year an equal number of judges and khadis were inaugurated, bringing the total number of judges and khadis in the state to 17 and 8 respectively.
According to him, the wages of the judicial officers is far below what it is expected to be; and it an’t be remedied by states because it is within the exclusive purview of the federal government and the NJC.
He urged the FG, and the NJC “to, as a matter of urgency, commence the review of the wages of our judicial officers.
“It is long overdue. It is unfortunate if you hear what a judge takes home as his pay. Our judicial officers take home can’t take them home. It is for government to look inwards, with a view to reviewing it upwards, especially these days that we have terrible inflation in the country,” he said.
He, however, pledged that the state government will continue to make life easy for the judiciary staff by providing “whatever we are supposed to provide, despite that we’re facing very excruciating economic challenges.
Describing the judiciary in Sokoto state as growing in size and capabilities that is being complimented by the infrastructure and right atmosphere provided for it to work,” the Governor urged the new judges to be just and fair in accordance with their oath of office.
“Make sure that you didn’t bring in any of your personal interests on matters brought before you,” he said, expressing the administration’s belief in their competencies and capacities, saying he is “absolutely confident that you can do the jobs.
