The National Judicial Council, NJC, has set up a five-man committee to monitor the compliance of the memorandum of action (MoA) signed between the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) on financial autonomy for the Judiciary.
The NJC took the decision after its meeting with leaders of JUSUN and some other stakeholders, during which it demand an end to the over two-month strike by court workers in view of its impact on the nation’s court system and appeals from other stakeholders.
NJC’s spokesman, Soji Oye, in a statement, said the NJC, led by its Chairman and Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, at the Tuesday’s meeting, prevailed on the striking court workers to put an end to the industrial action.
The statement reads in part: “Sequel to the prolonged strike of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and its effect on the Judiciary and the Nation at large, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman, National Judicial Council, Honourable Dr. Justice I. T. Muhammad, CFR convened an emergency meeting of council on Tuesday 8 June 2021 with the Chief Judges of states, the JUSUN Executive members as well as Senator Ita Enang, the Senior Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of the Implementation Committee with a view to finding a lasting solution to the lingering strike.
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The Chief Justice of Nigeria and other stakeholders during the interface lamented that the strike had affected the Judiciary in particular and the nation at large and therefore sought for a way to resolve the lingering issue.
The Deputy President of JUSUN, Emmanuel Abiri, who briefed the Council on behalf of the Executive members of the association, during the stakeholders meeting, explained that the grouse of the union was that despite the constitutional provision of sections 81 (3), 121 (3), 162 (9) and the judgement delivered since 2015 in favour of JUSUN, the Executive Order 10 of 2020 and the agreement reached between the union, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Governors have refused to yield financial autonomy to the State Judiciary.
He added that the Union’s other grievances include; non-payment of peculiar allowance for Judiciary Staff; attempt by the Kaduna State Governor to place the State Judiciary under its Civil Service and scheming for a State Judicial Council.
He posited that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum was merely playing politics with the Constitution and had also failed to remit the one-month payment agreed on at the end of May as a demonstration of their good faith.
Mr Abiri suggested that if the Forum could renege in fulfilling its promise at the end of the month of May, there was no guarantee that it would not in June.
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He therefore requested that the Accountant-General of the Federation be directed to deduct from source the amount meant for the Judiciary before the Union could call off the strike.
The council thereafter set up a five-man committee in order to monitor the implementation of the Memorandum of Action signed between the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and JUSUN.
The development which led to the national executive of JUSUN assuring NJC to put an end to strike and resume work on Monday, June 14.
