President Bola Tinubu has asked the House of Representatives to approve a new proposed salaries and allowances for judicial officers in the country.
The president’s request was contained in a letter read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas at the plenary.
He explained that the proposed bill seeks to prescribe salaries and allowances as well as other fringe benefits for judicial officers.
The President in the letter dated 19th March, 2024 addressed to the Speaker, solicited for 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 Executive bill forwarded by the President 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 another development, the House Tuesday summoned Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa and Permanent Secretary over alleged illegal award of contract worth $300 million for procurement anti-malaria process.
Chairman, House Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Hon. Amobi Ogah who issued the summons during an investigative hearing into the petition by Seasons Law Firm on behalf of Rosie’s Textile Mills Limited against Federal Ministry of Health for denying indigenous manufacturers of insecticidal nets from participating in the contract for the procurement of insecticidal nets and other related products.
Following the refusal of the permanent secretary to honour the invitation by the Committee on three occasions, the lawmakers unanimously resolved to summon the minister, permanent secretary and all the parties involved in the procurement process.
Hon. Ogah said “Nigeria borrowed $100 million from Islamic Bank which was approved by National Assembly in 2021 out of the S100 million, $10 million was grant and another $200 million borrowed from World Bank in the same year for Impact Project (Malaria Financing Agreement). Making it a total of S$300 million.
“The resolution by National Assembly is that Local Content must be prioritized to enable Local manufacturers, but the Ministry went ahead to contract UNOPS yo do the procurement process at the cost of over $300 million for the purchase of anti-malaria commodities.”
He observed that rather than honouring the Committee’s invitations, the Permanent Secretary has been sending several people to talk to him.
“We all know that malaria is an epidemic in Nigeria. I can tell us that the government has always wanted to help the people but most times the civil servants are our problems.
“This money has been made available since 2001, we have been inviting the perm sec, this is the third time that we are inviting her to come and explain to us what has happened. Have you used the money; if they have not used the money, where is the money? If they have used the money to buy anti-malaria commodities, where are they? It’s a matter of simple explanation”, he stated.
