ASO ROCK WATCH: On Tinubu’s promise of enhanced salary for judges. Two other talking points.

President Bola Tinubu, last week, declared his intention to fight corruption among judicial officers.

Two other stories from the presidency were also analysed within the week under review.

1. Fighting corruption among judges

On August 25, Tinubu promised that his administration would review the remuneration templates of judicial officers in the country as a way to fight corruption in the judicial system.

“We must deal with the review of remuneration, if we truly want to fight corruption in the judiciary,” he said when he received the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), led by Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), at the State House, Abuja.

Tinubu’s disposition underpins the rot in the judiciary and tells of the endemic corruption that has eaten up the third arm of government, perceived as the last hope of the common man.

The President, however, is assumed not to be unaware that salary increment is not a potent panacea to ridding the judiciary of corruption. Rather an intentional sanitisation of the system via dismissal of bad eggs and stiff sanction on erring officials should serve the country’s long term interests.

On the flip side, his promises appear to raise concerns among ardent critics that he may have set out to subtly curry the judiciary which is currently being scrutinized very closely through its work at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), where the February 25 presidential election is being challenged.

Considering the unpalatable stories of corruption that have continuously given notoriety to the executive, the President must satisfy the popular saying that those who come to equity must do so with clean hands.

Two other talking points

2. Managing subsidy palliatives

Tinubu, on August 24, stated that state governors, and local government chairmen would be held responsible, if the distribution of subsidy removal palliatives is poorly managed.

READ ALSO:ASO ROCK WATCH: As Tinubu moves to check foreign loans. Two other talking points

“Nigerians must hold them accountable,” he said while responding to a request by Muslim clerics (Ulama) to be allowed to monitor the distributions nationwide.

Tinubu’s remark boils down to the systemic corruption that has pervaded all tiers of government, frustrating the masses from having access to socio-economic development.

It signposts the mistrust the federal government has on the state governments, and LGs in helping to push the agenda of his administration.

More so, his position, once again, reaffirms the problem of leadership that has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of nations.

3. Still on Tinubu’s Niger-headache

On August 26, Tinubu noted that he would be guided by national interest in his approach towards the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS’) handling of the crisis in Niger Republic.

Tinubu stated this when he received the U.S Presidential Envoy and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging our diplomatic tools,” he said.

Tinubu’s new stand must be a product of the backlash that trailed his earlier push for a military intervention in the embattled Niger Republic without carefully exhausting all diplomatic options.

It shows the supremacy of national interest over all other interests as the President’s first allegiance is to the Nigerian people.

For sure, it would be interesting to see how Tinubu finally resolves the crisis in the neighbouring Niger.

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