The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has confirmed that the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of a 300 per cent pay increase for judicial officers.
Fagbemi made this announcement on Monday during the 12th convocation ceremony of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), in Ekiti State. He described the pay hike as a significant initial step in President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s efforts to bolster the judiciary.
He acknowledged that one of the pressing concerns before his tenure as judicial leader was the inadequate remuneration of judicial officers. “I am again pleased to report that a major intervention of the Tinubu administration in the judiciary is the recent 300 per cent upward review of the remuneration of judicial officers in Nigeria across the board. To be true, I can confirm that the implementation of this has begun in earnest,” Fagbemi stated.
In August, President Tinubu signed into law a bill approving the 300 per cent salary and allowance increase for judicial officials.
Fagbemi’s comments followed a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court, which recently upheld local government autonomy—a decision hailed as a milestone in Nigeria’s democratic journey.
Earlier this year, Fagbemi filed a lawsuit against the 36 state governors, accusing them of mismanaging local government funds. Months later, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unlawful for state governments to control local government funds.
Prior to this ruling, local government funds were deposited into a joint account managed by state governments on behalf of local government areas (LGAs).
