The quest of fiscal autonomy for judicial independence: the case of the Nigerian judiciary and its challenges

The executive arm of the government in Nigeria has been underfunding the judiciary due to its lack of fiscal (financial) autonomy. However, despite the Nigerian judiciary being granted fiscal self-autonomy by the court in 2014, it continues to fall short of one of the main criteria for judicial independence due to inadequate budgetary support. Thus, the article examines the judiciary's independence and its challenges from poor funding. It employs a qualitative methodology and desk research sources to examine several provisions of the Nigerian constitution, analyze the practicalities of fiscal autonomy from a comparative perspective between Nigeria and other countries, and determine the inadequate funding of the Nigerian judiciary by placing its percentage of budgetary allocation against the nation's total annual budget over the years. The article suggests the need for implementation structures of fiscal autonomy involving a time frame of budgetary allocation directly to the judiciary to assure its independence and efficient funding for the provision of court services.