Ganduje: Kano judiciary independent — we pay judges millions of naira as allowance

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, says the government’s financial commitment to the state judiciary shows the independence of the judiciary.

Speaking during a meeting with members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Kano state chapter on Tuesday, the governor said over N100 million has been paid as medical allowances for high court judges in the state.

“We also paid over N20 million as allowances for magistrates and sharia court judges,” he said.

“We also paid sharia and magistrate court judges N20 million as furniture allowance.”

Ganduje said the state government also pays N46 million monthly as overhead cost to the judiciary.

He added that the state government also spent N100 million to provide furniture, accommodation and other expenses for the court of appeal.

“I think this shows the independence of the judiciary. We have shown evidence by our financial obligations to the judiciary,” the governor said.

Aminu Sani-Gadanya, Kano state NBA chairman, who led his team to the governor’s office said the essence of the visit was to have discussions about the implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.

“We were instructed by NBA national body to engage state governors to find a lasting solution to this issue,” Sani-Gadanya said.

“You may recall that we embarked on an infinite strike to push for the implementation of Judicial financial autonomy.

“We decided to visit you to find a way forward and also commend you for all your support to us.”

The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) on April 6 embarked on a nationwide strike in protest of the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.