Senator Worried About Lopsided Appointments

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Opeyemi Bamidele, has charged the presidency to reflect federal character in appointments for the sake of the unity of the country.

Bamidele, who gave the charge on Monday in Abuja, pointed out that abuse of the federal character principle, merit and appointment criteria could compromise the unity of the country.

In his remark at the screening of the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court nominee, Salisu Garba Abdullahi, Senator Bamidele said this has become necessary “in order to avoid unnecessarily heating up the polity and eroding the unity and strength of our country and in the process, weakening the foundation of our country as well as the hope of its federating units.”

He said: “Adequate care must be taken to ensure that the federal character principle established by virtue of the clear provision of Section 14, Sub-section (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) is not undermined.”

Section 14(3) of the Constitution states that “the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

The Committee cautioned that “individuals and bodies saddled with the responsibility of making recommendations to the President and Commander-in-Chief of our dear country, to ensure compliance with both the eligibility criteria, as well as the Federal character principle, established in our constitution in order to avoid unnecessarily heating up the polity and eroding the unity and strength of our country and in the process, weakening the foundation of our country as well as the hope of its federating units.”

The Senator further noted that Nigeria has “an extremely bright and exciting future in one indivisible and indissoluble nation that is propelled by unity in diversity.”

Bamidele also called for the review of salaries of judges and justices in the country, saying poor remuneration is capable of exposing them to temptation.

He noted that the salary structure of judges was last reviewed in 2008 through an act of parliament.

He said: “As at that time, exchange rate of naira to a US dollar was N117 as against N467. It is now, clearly showing that judges are even depreciating in value.

“The N110billion allocation to the judiciary is not enough for this important arm of government. The amount is not up to one percent of the national budget.”

He therefore maintained that the salary and general welfare of judges require major review for the betterment of the judiciary and dispensation of justice.

Reacting to the position of Senator Bamidele, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Babajide Omoworare, assured the Senate that the presidency had noted all observations made by the Committee, adding, “this is the best way to ensure consistency in the system for the betterment of the judiciary.”