*Says Doing That Will Quicken Justice Delivery
*Says There Ought To Be A High Court In Each LGA
*Says The Judiciary Is Independent In Justice Dispensation But Not Financially

The former Solicitor General of Lagos State and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lawal Pedro, has said that to quicken justice delivery, each state should be allowed to appoint its own judges.

Pedro, in an interview with the Nation Newspaper, said that there ought to be a High Court in each local government. He further expressed concern that State High Court judges are paid by the federal government. According to him, such is an absurd federalism.

He said, “We don’t have to copy other countries blindly. We must look at our own peculiar situation and find a workable solution. For example, in as much as the constitution remains the way it is presently, Lagos State should have not less than 100 judges. The challenge is that the appointment has to go through NJC, and that is an absurd federal system. Why should the federal government be paying the salary of a judge of the High Court of a State? The state should take care of their judges and determine how many they want.

If I had my way, every Local Government in Lagos must have a High Court. How can one be leaving in Igando area and be going to Iganmu to do a case? There should be a High Court there with not less than three judges sitting there. That is the ideal case but how do you now ask the federal government to fund them. If you ask for 10 judges for Lagos, Federal Government will look at its budget and say they cannot afford to approve more than six. In some jurisdictions outside Lagos, the total cases in the entire court are not up to the list of one High Court judge in Lagos. Meanwhile, the judge will collect same salary as his counterpart in Lagos. My suggestion is that the constitution should be amended to allow states to appoint their own judges. There could be some form of control by a federal agency like the NJC but appointment, management, and payment of salary should be rested with the States.

“The jurisdiction of the magistrate courts should also be increased to free the High Court of some cases. There are over 200 Magistrates in Lagos State, so what are they doing; Landlord and tenant matters? To me, such cases should not be more than three months in court. There should actually be a Mediation Centre annexed to the Magistrate. So first hearing of cases should go to the Mediation Centre. Once rent issues are sorted out there amicably, housing investment and development will rise. People are selling their houses here in Nigeria and buying in London because of the ease of settling rent-related disputes. So we must change the system so that people can be encouraged to invest in housing.”

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also said that the judiciary is independent on paper and in terms of justice delivery because no one is coercing them not to deliver justice. However, in terms of finance, he said they are not independent. He advised that there should be push for an increase in the budget of the judiciary

“As far as I am concerned, on paper, our judiciary is autonomous. Autonomy is the independence of the judiciary. What is the core function of the judiciary? Dispensation of justice. Is anyone telling the judiciary not to dispense justice? So I believe they are independent on that. When you now talk about physical and financial needs for them to perform these functions, on paper they are.

“As far Nigeria in concerned today, unless the constitution is amended, the judiciary cannot be as independent as it should really be. According to the constitution, the High Court of a state is being treated as an appendage of the Federal Government because the recurrent and capital expenditure of the High Court is with the NJC. So for the state which spends money on the High Court, it is just an act of being magnanimous. By the constitution, what the state should concentrate on is the magistrate court and make sure they are well taken care of. It is same thing with the police. The federal government will buy operational vehicles for the police but it is the state government that repairs them.

“So to me, the judiciary is substantially independent as far as the present Nigerian Constitution is concerned. If by delivering judgment, there have been no interference, then they are independent. But when you talk about financial autonomy, my question is; in which respect? If you look at our constitution on the issue of financial autonomy, it says money standing to the credit of the judiciary in the Consolidated Revenue Account shall be deducted for the judiciary. The question however is when is such money deemed to be standing to the credit of the judiciary? Is it when the budget is made? So assuming you have budgeted N100million for your Judiciary in your budget of N500million, and in the whole year, government could not make even N100million, where would the money for the judiciary be withdrawn from.

“My suggestion is that judiciary should be asking for an increase of their budget envelop. Most people who talk about financial autonomy have never worked in government so they don’t know how these things work. What is the percentage allocated to the judiciary in the budget? Ordinarily, the budget ought to be split into three since there are three arms of government but we know that the Executive have more responsibility, the Legislature makes laws and carried out some oversight functions while the Judiciary is there to dispense justice. I am sure the budget of the Judiciary is less than the budget of the Ministry of Works. That is where the challenge is. People should fight for an increase in the budget envelope of the Judiciary instead. If for instance, the Judiciary is having four percent of the total budget of a state, then they should be asking for 10 percent so that they can have more money to be able to carry out their function.”

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