Musa Dattijo Muhammad, a recently retired Supreme Court justice, has bemoaned the inadequate compensation package for Nigerian justices.
Muhammad revealed that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court makes more money than the Justices on Friday in Abuja during a farewell court session conducted in his honor.
He said that the top court registrar’s monthly compensation was N1.2 million, while justices’ salaries were N751,000, indicating a 37.4% wage difference.
He added that Olukayode Ariwoola, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, only receives a salary of N400,000 plus each month, which is 66.7 percent less than the N1.2 million that the Supreme Court Registrar receives on a monthly basis.
He decried why Justices’ salaries decreased despite added responsibility.
“It may interest one to know that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court earns more than the Justices. While she earns N1.2m per month, justices take home N751,000 monthly.
“The CJN, on his part, takes home N400,000 plus. The salary of a Justice, curiously, drops rather than increases when he gets the added responsibility of being a CJN.
“That the unjust and embarrassing salary difference between the justices and the Chief Registrar still abides remains intriguing, to say the least,” he said.