The Chief Judge (CJ) of the Federal High Court (FHC), Justice John Tsoho, on Thursday, disclosed that a better welfare package for judges and staff would be introduced in the coming year.

Justice Tsoho stated this during his speech at the End of the Year, Retirement and Merit Award Ceremonies in Abuja.

The ceremony was part of the programmes for the commencement of the 2022/2023 Legal Year.

“I will encourage you to see the glass of this court as half full and not empty.

“The coming year gives us a lot to be hopeful for, because having applied deliberate and combined efforts, we expect next year’s budget to be better than that of this current year.

“In line with this, we will introduce various improvements to the welfare of judges and staff of the court.

“The welfare allowance of judges will be increased, as well as their air ticket allowance.

“There will also be an introduction of a special allowance for officers on Grade Levels 15 and above and arrangements have also been put in place to cushion the effect of inflation for officers on Grade Levels 14 and below,” he said.

The CJ said he has also instructed that the training of all cadres of staff be commenced from the first quarter of next year to make up for previous incapacity of the court to train all the members of staff, due to our lean budget.

Mr Tsoho, who presented the Chief Judge’s Merit Award 2022 to three outstanding staff of the court, also honoured some of the retirees who distinguished themselves in the last legal year.

He commended the winners of the awards, and urged members of staff to emulate them.

Earlier, the Chief Registrar of FHC, Suleiman Hassan, said the occasion was to honour and reward deserving staff, formally send forth the staff who retired meritoriously in the course of the year.

(NAN)