Kayode Alfred, Ado Ekiti
Sokoto State Governor, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has said that Nigerian Governors have reached a consensus to set up an implementation structure to grant the judiciary power to manage its capital and recurrent expenditure in line with constitutional provisions.
Governor Tambuwal stated this while presenting a paper on the perspective of the Nigeria Governors Forum(NGF) at a Special Attorney General’s Colloquium held in honour of the retiring Chief Judge of Ekiti State ,justice Ayodeji Daramola in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday .
The former lawmaker said the agreement would end the long weeks of strike by Judicial workers which has halted judicial and criminal justice process in the country.
Tambuwal , who was the Guest Speaker at the event explained that the autonomy of the judiciary was critical to the sustenance of the country’s democratic process, adding that some of the conflicting areas of the Executive Order 10 which mandated the implementation of judiciary and legislative autonomy across states of the Federation, were being addressed.
He said the delay in the implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary was simply a matter of procedure, governance structure and the quest for legal clarity.
On his part, Ekiti State Governor who also doubled as the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi said the NGF had never at any time opposed the autonomy of the judiciary but seek legal clarification on the provision of the law on who should be responsible for the capital funding of the judiciary.
According to Fayemi, “the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has reached an agreement with representatives of National Judiciary Council and representatives of the Speakers of Parliament on the issue of autonomy for judiciary and legislature.
Speaking further Governor Fayemi promised that his administration would continue to hold judiciary in high esteem considering its role towards dispensation and administration of justice in the State.
Earlier Justice Daramola who lamented the poor conditions of courts across the country, revealed that the review of salaries of judges had been on stalled for the past 15 years contrary to the provision of the law for its review at the interval of every five years.
He blamed Governors, especially those with legal background and those who were former legislators for the plight of the judiciary as well as the controversies surrounding the agitations for autonomy for judiciary and legislature.
