President Bola Tinubu has sent a bill seeking to amend the salaries of judicial officers to the House of Representatives for consideration.
This was contained in a correspondence from the president to the House read by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen during plenary on Tuesday.
The Executive Bill is titled: ‘A Bill for an Act to prescribe the salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria and for related matters’.
In the letter dated 19 March, Mr Tinubu solicited accelerated consideration and passage of the bill.
He said: “In accordance with the provisions of Section 58(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended), I forward, herewith, the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, Etc) Bill, 2024 for the kind consideration of the House of Representatives.
“The Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, Etc) Bill, 2024 seeks to prescribe salaries, allowances and fringe benefits for Judicial Officers, to end the prolonged stagnation in their remuneration and to reflect contemporary socio-economic realities.
“The Bill, which establishes a new legal framework for the remuneration of Judicial Officers, will also ensure significant improvement in the welfare, capacity and independence of the Judiciary.
“Whilst I hope that the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, etc.) Bill, 2024 will be carefully yet expeditiously considered and passed by the House of Representatives, please accept, Rt. Hon. Speaker, the assurances of my highest esteem.”
The judiciary has a budget of N342 billion in the 2024 budget, the highest ever.
Reps pass N1.2 trillion FCT 2024 budget, okay borrowing of N500 billion
Meanwhile, the House also passed the N1.2 trillion FCT 2024 Appropriation Bill
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Consequently, the lawmakers approved the N500 billion loan request contained in the budget proposal.
The approval followed the adoption of the report submitted by the Chairman of the House Committee on FCT, Muktar Betara, (APC, Borno) on Tuesday.
President Tinubu had last week forwarded the N1.1 trillion budget to the National Assembly for approval. The government proposed to borrow N500 billion from commercial banks to fund the budget.
On Monday, the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, appeared before the committee to defend the proposal.
The approval is coming less than 24 hours after Mr Wike defended the document before the lawmakers.
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