The most recent controversy in the judiciary, which was sparked by a petition signed by 14 Supreme Court justices accusing the Chief Justice of Nigeria of gross negligence and financial mismanagement, continues to raise eyebrows in various circles.
In a leaked memo, the CJN was accused of ignoring his duties and misusing funds intended to support the efficient operation of the Supreme Court by the 14 justices of the Supreme Court.
The National Assembly, which is the body that passes laws, has expressed interest in the situation despite the CJN’s response through his media assistant, which denied the allegations.
They believe that the growing conflict between the Chief Justice of Nigeria and his colleagues could have serious repercussions for the branch of government charged with enforcing the law and administering justice.
The judicial body had consistently voiced complaints about the lack of funding, the poor welfare of judges, and the state of the courts at previous legislative Committee meetings, public hearings, and budget defense sessions.
A court action was also filed against the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation, and the National Judicial Council, seeking a pay review for judges.
The national assembly’s attempts to reach an out-of-court settlement in the case filed by Sebastine Hon, a senior advocate in Nigeria, have all failed.
However, the national assembly significantly increased funding for the judiciary in the fiscal appropriation for 2022 after it proposed an all-time high spending estimate of N120 billion.
This amount represents a 9% increase over the 110 billion that served as the judiciary’s annual budget for the three years between 2019 and 2021.
Given that the judiciary appears to have been put on trial, the national assembly may now also be asking pointed questions and needing answers.
Over the years, the problem has been the seeming secrecy around the break down of the the judiciary’s budget.
This has also caused a credibility issue for an arm of government expected to maintain high standards, transparency and accountability
The query of the 14 justices may to a large extent reflect the wish of the majority of members of the bench and the bar.
It has also forced out a response from the Chief Justice Tanko Mohammed.
The CJN says despite the increased budgetary allocation, the judiciary like any other establishment in the country has been hit by devastating economic crunch.
This has prevented the leadership from meeting some of its obligation to justices especially in the area of welfare
But he insists there is no rift between him and the justices of the apex court.
But these allegations will not go away in a hurry and more pressure is now piling on the Nigeria judicial council and the code of conduct tribunal to probe the claims made by the 14 justices.
The human rights writers association of Nigeria and other civil rights advocacy group wants the CJN to step down as chairman of the NJC and allow for a probe.
In the coming days, attention will also be on the national assembly to see how fruitful their intervention will be, and if indeed it will pacify frayed nerves in the third arm of government.
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