By Don Silas President Muhammadu Buhari says the degenerate welfare and working conditions of the nation’s judiciary are “serious an...
By Don Silas
President Muhammadu Buhari says the degenerate welfare and
working conditions of the nation’s judiciary are “serious and would be treated
as such,” even as he cautions on the dire state of the country’s economy
“currently battling insecurity, corruption and economic challenges,” aggravated
by the COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.
Speaking Thursday at the State House, on the occasion of a
visit by the chairman and representatives of the Body of Benchers, a body of
legal practitioners of “the highest distinction in the legal profession”,
Buhari says a democratic government like the one he leads, “standing on a
tripod comprising the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, cannot stand where
one of its three pillars, the Judiciary is not properly nurtured, maintained
and sustained to deliver on its very pivotal constitutional duties.”
This was disclosed in a statement by his Senior Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Buhari, therefore, promises to act quickly on the report of
the committee he set up on his own back in 2018 to review the welfare and
working conditions of the Judiciary:
He said, “Let me assure you that the issues would be given
due and urgent attention within the resources available to the government.”
The President also congratulates the Body of Benchers on the
successful completion of the “Benchers’ complex at Jabi,” a building described
as impressive that would house the body and provide conference facilities, and
accepted their invitation to personally commission the structure.
In his presentation, the chairman of the Body of Benchers,
Wale Olanipekun, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, described the condition under
which judges, especially the Justices of the Supreme Court, work as pathetic,
appalling, and below the minimum standards that are required:
He said, “We want to plead with you. We need to bail out the
Judiciary. The situation is bad. Let us sympathise with the Judiciary. I know
you to have respect and feelings for the Judiciary. You have sympathy, empathy
and consideration. The Body of Benchers as elders of the legal profession makes
these recommendations to Your Excellency, with a plea that they should be
attended to urgently.”
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