ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Federal Government has earmarked N341.6bn for the payment of judges’ salaries and allowances in the 2026 Appropriation Bill, maintaining the significant increase in judicial funding that followed the salary review approved by the National Assembly in 2024.
The provision falls under statutory transfers to the National Judicial Council, which oversees the administration of the federal judiciary.
An examination of the budget shows that the NJC allocation is made up almost entirely of personnel expenses linked to judges’ remuneration, with no distinct capital expenditure component reflected under that vote.
Historical budget data indicate that funding for the judiciary was largely stagnant for several years before the recent surge.
Between 2019 and 2021, statutory transfers to the NJC averaged about ₦110bn annually, before rising slightly to around N120bn in 2022 and approximately N150bn in 2023.
A sharp increase came in the 2024 budget, when the National Assembly raised the council’s allocation from an initial executive proposal of N165bn to N341.63bn, making it one of the largest statutory transfers to any federal agency that year.
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This heightened funding level has now been sustained in the 2026 proposal.
The increase followed the enactment of the Judicial Officers’ Salaries and Allowances Act (Amendment) Bill in late 2023, which introduced a new remuneration framework for judicial officers beginning in January 2024.
Under the revised structure, the Chief Justice of Nigeria now earns about N5.39m monthly, while other Supreme Court and appellate court justices receive similarly high monthly pay.
While the NJC allocation is largely devoted to salaries, the wider justice sector budget for 2026 includes capital spending for court-related reforms and infrastructure through other ministries and sectoral allocations.
A sector-based review of the budget indicates that the law and justice sector has about ₦11.64bn set aside for capital projects, while the Ministry of Works and related agencies also include court-linked expenditures amounting to several billions of naira.
The imbalance is further highlighted by a N520m provision in the 2026 budget for the Federal Ministry of Justice to purchase fuel to power generators at its headquarters and offices, underscoring persistent electricity challenges even at the highest levels of the justice system.
The N520m allocation reflects the poor condition of courts nationwide, with magistrate and high courts in several states operating from dilapidated buildings lacking reliable electricity, functional recording equipment and basic facilities.
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At one point, senior lawyer and human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, decried the state of Nigerian courts, describing them as “dilapidated infrastructure” where judges often resort to recording proceedings by hand.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s “Hard Copy” programme in June 2025, Ozekhome said, “The judiciary has been ignored for too long,” adding that judges must be “treated respectfully” and be “well funded,” to shield them from societal pressures.
A senior Abuja-based lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “There is no point in rewarding judges handsomely if the courts they preside over are unsafe, lack electricity, or cannot accommodate litigants.”
He added that the budgetary provisions exposed skewed government priorities, arguing that improving court conditions should attract greater attention.