The National Industrial Court has ordered the Kogi
State Government to pay the sum of N1.529 billion to the judiciary being the
outstanding money due to it from July 2018 to March 2019.
The state government was also given 30 days within
which to make the payment.
This was a major victory recorded by the state chapter
of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) against the state government over
the failure of the government to pay its members their salaries and allowances since
July 2018.
In a landmark judgment delivered by Justice E.N.N.
Agbakoba of the National Industrial Court in Abuja, the court held that the
deliberate non-payment of salaries to the state judiciary workers in the
circumstances stated in the case "amounts to inhuman or degrading
treatment."
The defendants in the case are the state governor, the
state Attorney-General, the state Commissioner for Finance, Accountant-General,
Auditor-General, Chief Judge of the state, Grand Kadi of the Sharia Court of
Appeal, president of the Customary Court of Appeal and Judicial Service
Commission (JSC).
The case was
instituted by way of originating summons on March 21, 2019, in which seven
questions were proposed for determination, prominent among which was whether or
not the first to fifth defendants have the power to withhold the monthly
salaries of the members of the claimant, by withholding the amounts standing to
the credit of the sixth to ninth defendants in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of
the state and payable to the Heads of Courts under section 121 (3) of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). It also sought 11
reliefs from the court.
Upon reviewing the relevant provisions of the constitution
relating to the doctrine of separation of powers among the three arms of government, the powers and roles of the Auditor-General
of a state, Heads of Courts and the National Judicial Council (NJC), Justice
Agbakoba, relying on some judicial authorities, held that the doctrine of
separation of powers means that the legislature, executive and judiciary are
independent arms of the government with their respective functions subject to
checks and balances.
According to the judge, each arm must not encroach
on the functions of others as any such invasion must be regarded as unconstitutional.
It was part of the findings of the court that the
Nigerian judiciary is constitutionally guaranteed to be financially independent
from the executive arm of government, he added.
On the whole, Justice Agbakoba ordered the first to
fifth defendants to pay forthwith, the arrears of salaries, allowances and emoluments
of the members of the claimant standing to the credit of the Kogi State judiciary
in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Kogi State to the Heads of Courts since
July 2018.
The judge further ordered a perpetual injunction,
restraining the first to fifth defendants from continuing to withhold the salaries, allowances and
emoluments of the members of the
claimant standing to the credit of the of Kogi State judiciary in the Consolidated
Revenue Fund of the state.
A consequential order was therefore made directing all
payments, including a cost of N200, 000
and 10 percent interest, within 30 days from the date of the judgment. The
judgment was delivered on June 3, 2019.
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