Activities at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos and the Supreme Court were stalled on Tuesday as members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) made good its threat to embark on a nationwide strike against the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.
In Lagos, it was learnt that at the FHC, the unionists who arrived around 9am shut the court and sent out staff from offices, court rooms and premises.
They also sealed some of the offices and pasted strike notices on their entrances to enforce their indefinite nationwide strike, which begins today.
In Abuja, they also shut down the Supreme Court in defiance to the last minute appeal by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to the workers to shelve the industrial action, which it said was ill-timed considering the COVID-19 constraints the Nigerian courts had been battling with in the last year.
The workers, it was learnt, arrived at the entrance of the court around 7.10am and met the gate locked, leaving workers who intended to resume duties after the Easter holiday stranded.
Workers of other two key judiciary institutions – the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) – which share the same premises with the Supreme Court were also affected.
While the federal government has allowed for financial autonomy of the third arm of government, state governments were however yet to give financial independence to states’ Judiciary.
Reacting to the refusal of states to implement the policy, the JUSUN had directed its members across the country to shut down courts nationwide beginning from Tuesday.
Recall that JUSUN had at its last national executive meeting on March 13, 2021 issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government to implement the financial autonomy of the judiciary otherwise it “will have no other option but to resume the suspended national strike action.”
The ultimatum expired on Sunday, April 4 but the strike which was slated for Monday, April 5 was shelved because of the Easter holiday.
Similarly, a circular marked JUSUN/NHQ/GEN/111/VOL.11/65 dated April 1, 2021 and signed by JUSUN’s general secretary, Mr. Isaiah Adetola, directed members of JUSUN across the country to comply with the directive by the NEC of the Union.
“I have been directed to refer to the communiqué issued at the end of the last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of JUSUN on March 13, 2021 in Abuja and particularly refer to paragraph 9 on 21-day ultimatum to government to implement the financial autonomy of the Judiciary, failure of which JUSUN will have no option but to resume the suspended national strike.
“Therefore, as a result of public holiday on April 5, 2021, the strike action has been postponed to Tuesday April 6, 2021.
“You are directed to shut down courts/departments in your states until further notice from the National Secretariat of JUSUN in Abuja,” the circular read.
