By Ayo Joseph
When a priest engages in divination for a client, who is hard of hearing, the job ethic demands of him to repeat the instructions as often as possible until it settles in the subconscious of the client. Hence, the Yoruba proverb, kokoko làá ráfá adití.
Lawyers and non-lawyers have been inundated with claims and “reclaims” by outgoing President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Mr. Y.C. Maikyau (SAN), of championing the process that birthed review of salary of judicial officers. At no opportunity had he hesitated to sound his trumpet through addresses, speeches and interviews. For him, it is more about protecting what he considers his “proprietary right” over ideas that birthed the legislation and presidential assent than any other thing.
A few days ago, lawyers again woke up to emails, one from Maikyau and another from the association’s publicity secretary on the same subject. Though worded in the manner of an acknowledgment page in one of Agatha Christie’s bestsellers, the email was not pretentious about its aim of shoving it down everyone’s throat, in case it was yet to digest, that it was Maikyau and his team (and not anyone else), who initiated review of judicial officers’ salaries. In the email which was circulated to all lawyers, Maikyau said: “By the grace of God Almighty, and without any intention of sounding immodest, we undertook this task, which culminated into enactment of the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, Etc) Act, 2024, which was a product of constructive engagement with all arms of government.”
Just like the phrase “with due respect”, when you hear a man say: “without any intention of sounding immodest”, you are advised to brace yourself for a fabricated model of “immodesty.” But is Maikyau actually the “brain-father” of the Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances, Etc) Act, 2024? I need no preface to pointedly answer this in the negative, as the idea far precedes his ascension to the presidency of NBA. Being one who is far from the scene of leadership in the legal profession, I recall that reports of an ongoing process had been in the news long before Maikyau became president. By this lead, I was constrained to ask questions from credible sources to augment my commonplace knowledge, and my discoveries align with my answer above. To mimic Maikyau, let me also say “without any intention of sounding like a telltale”, I shall remind everyone of events from the not-too-distant past.
Body of Benchers’ intervention
The road to the review of remuneration of judicial officers has been a torturous one, with many harrowing bends and bumpy stretch. Only a few would understand the extent of investments, engagements and brainstorming that went into what emerged as the final result in the nature of a legislature. As far back as 2018, under the government of Muhammadu Buhari, there had been a report, proposing a review of judicial salaries and conditions of service. While the report continued to gather dust on the president’s shelf, a rare diatribe emerged from Justices of the Supreme Court, about June, 2022, with bitter complaints about the conditions of service of the court and the nation’s judiciary. The first regulatory body in the legal profession to react to this, was the Body of Benchers, then chaired by Mr. Wole Olanipekun, who wrote to all justices of the Supreme Court, urging them to exercise patience while the body engages with relevant stakeholders to address their complaints. Body of Benchers’ sources has it that Olanipekun set up a Judicial Advisory Committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, with representatives from NBA and the Judiciary. The same sources also said the then chairman of Body of Benchers engaged the consulting firm of Ernst & Young to do a comparative analysis of salaries and emoluments of judicial officers across Commonwealth countries, with a view to achieving an internationally acceptable scale.
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It was in the news that in July, 2022, Olanipekun led other Benchers to Buhari to register their concerns and to “parley” with the then President, towards addressing the issue. It was in furtherance of this engagement that the President directed the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RAMFC) to begin the process of implementation of the 2018 report, pending conclusion of the Ernst & Young report commissioned by the then Body of Benchers leadership. Mr. Mohammed Shehu, chairman of RAMFC, was reported by the media as saying: “We have received the directive by Mr. President on salary of judges, and as you are aware, there has been a big uproar over the years on the salary of judges.”
While the engagements with Buhari and his commitment took place about July, 2022, Maikyau did not become president of NBA until August 26, 2022. At the inauguration of the Body of Benchers Complex on September, 29, 2022, Buhari acknowledged efforts of the Body of Benchers and its leadership, in his address: “I am not unaware of the passion and commitment of Olanipekun in championing the cause of welfare of judicial officers, as well as commitment of the body of this goal. May I restate my commitment towards this ideal and to reiterate our administration’s willingness to implement the 2018 Report of the Committee on Review of Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service. In similar vein, I have been intimated on the engagement of consultants by the body, through its Advisory Judicial Committee to, among other things, come up with a peer review of the conditions of service of judicial officers with other countries and jurisdictions, in and outside Africa. I look forward to completion of this peer review and submission of recommendation, as this will assist us in our review of the welfare package.”
To think that the above statements by Buhari were made at a function where Maikyau was not just in attendance, but occupied a front row, leaves one more taken aback, by his display. Ernst & Young’s findings were documented in a report, which was submitted to the President, RAMFC, National Assembly and other stakeholders in the value chain. It would later be discovered that the N15 million professional fee of Ernst & Young were borne by the duo of Olanipekun and the current Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi at a ratio of 10:5. The report presented a basis and resources for the legislative processes that followed, before enactment of the Act.
Efforts of SANs and judicial staff
As earlier hinted, the birth of the child, upon which Maikyau now imposes his fatherhood, was not without complications and protracted labour hours, with physicians and surgical blades at play. Long before intervention of Body of Benchers, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), in two separate actions: Suit FHC/ABJ/CS/63/2013 and Suit NAD/56/2013, against governmental stakeholders, including Federal Government, National Judicial Council, National Assembly, Ekiti State, etc., obtained judgments granting financial autonomy to the judiciary. More recently in 2022, Mr. Sebastain Hon (SAN), supported by over 100 members of the Inner Bar and 30 members of the Outer Bar, appearing as counsel, made another attempt through an action against National Assembly, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), National Judicial Council (NJC) and Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), over poor salary of judges. The irony is that though this action predates Maikyau’s assumption of office as NBA president, he was no where to be found on the long roll call, even when gray hairs like Solomon Awomolo (SAN), J.B. Daudu (SAN), OCJ Okocha (SAN), Kanu Agabi (SAN) and E.C. Ukala (SAN) registered their support, both in court appearance and preparation of processes. Or what do you say of efforts by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, which, in January, 2014, obtained judgment against National Judicial Council the 36 governors in court over the same issue?
Against Maikyau’s claim
Therefore, even before the coming of Maikyau, men had committed their voices, goodwill, efforts, intellect and resources to the cause which culminated in this result. So, it is extremely political for Maikyau to shut his eyes to these efforts and resources. No doubt, the story may not be complete without a mention of Maikyau’s name, as his voice was very loud in support of a review of salary review for judicial officers. However, he is not the champion as he only arrived at the racecourse at a time the horse had bolted.
While every kind-hearted individual should naturally sympathise with Maikyau concerning the anticlimax of goodwill experienced in his NBA stint, he, however, lacks exclusive title in this regard. In fact, he is at best, a joint tenant with other tenants, owning limited interest in the pool.
This attitude is reflective of a typical African politician, who would rather have it to himself than come clean. This bears a counterproductive effect on office holders, who are incentivised to adopt the sit-tight syndrome since leaders after them may probably not accord them any credit for their efforts while they held sway. Be that as it may, if my opinion is anything tradeable on the floor of opinion exchange, then all contributors to the hike in the salary of judicial officers still alive should jettison conventional modesty by blowing their trumpet. After all, as the late Sir Ahmadu Bello said: “If you do not learn to blow your trumpet, there may be no one who will do it for you.”
•Joseph is a legal enthusiast and public affairs commentator