Obaseki Sets Up C’ttee To Review Fiscal Implication Of Court Ruling On Judges’ Salary

The governor made this known during a meeting with the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Joe Acha, at the Government House in Benin City, the state capital.

The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja had on Friday 15 July, ordered an increment in the salaries of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and other judges.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Sebastine Hon, who filed a suit seeking an upward review of the emoluments and salaries of judges in Nigeria, had argued that the salaries of Nigerian judges have remained stagnant since 2008 when they were last reviewed.

Obaseki during the meeting with the state chief judge said, “We have periodic reviews of activities in the state and that is why I am meeting with the Head of the Judiciary. One of the issues we have come to talk about is the implication of the recent Industrial Court judgment on the remuneration of judges.

“We had a conversation and have decided to set up a small committee composed of members of the Executive and Judiciary arms of government to review the implications of the judgment on our budget.”

On his part, Justice Acha said: “The judgment is something we all expected because judges are grossly underpaid. Just like His Excellency has said, Edo State is one family. So, we want to see how we can work together to move forward. I believe this is something that can be discussed at the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) level.

“In Edo State, we are one family. Much as there are issues with staff salaries in other states, we believe that Edo State can be a model.”