Chukwudi Nweje

Former National Legal Adviser of the All progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) has condemned what he called “alms-size” budget for judiciary in the 2020 budget.

He said the allocation to the judiciary can neither ensure reasonable salaries for judicial officers nor provide the necessary infrastructure in courts, even as it may also expose judges to corruption

Banire said the only way the judiciary will attain its full potentials is if its funding is not left “at the mercy of some potentates whose early morning grunts decide the government policy for the day.”

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The judiciary in Nigeria will only attain the level of development of its counterparts in the West when the Federal Government treats it like an ordinary government parastatal, he said.

The former chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) expressed the views in a statement, yesterday.

“A recent revelation in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has shown that the entire budget for the judiciary in Nigeria in the year 2020 is the paltry sum of N110 billion which is less than 1 per cent of the entire budget for the country. It is sad that a country whose third arm of government is being treated as an ordinary government parastatal is expecting the kind of development attained by countries that make their judiciary part of the government. Judicial funding must not be at the mercy of some potentates whose early morning grunts decide the government policy for the day.”

He added: “The current parlous state of events which has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the weakness in the system beyond the comprehension of the sanest.