New Telegraph

How to avert future JUSUN’s strike, by lawyers

As courts across the country open for business today after more than two months closure owing to the strike action by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), some senior lawyers have tasked government at both Federal and state level to ensure strict implementation of fiscal autonomy for judiciary to forestall future disruption of activities at the third arm of government.

 

The lawyers spoke at the weekend on the heels of the suspension of a prolonged strike action by judiciary staff across the country to press home their demands for full fiscal autonomy for the judiciary.

 

According to them, allowinganarmof governmenttoshutdownforsuchalongperiodof timeis notonly dangerousforthenation’sdemocracy but could also dampen people’s hope in the judiciary. Speaking on the issue, immediate past Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Adeniji Kazeem (SAN), asked state governors to comply with the constitutional requirements of fiscal autonomy for the judiciary.

 

He said: “If you count last year’s COVID-19 induced lockdown and the present JUSUN induced Judiciary shutdown, there have been close to 240 days (approximately eight months) that the Nigerian Judiciary has been in comatose or semi-comatose.

 

This is a dangerous development for any democracy. “In 2018, the President assented to a constitutional amendment via the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (Fourth Alteration, No. 4) Act, 2017 which provided among others, for the financial autonomy of States’ Legislative and the Judicial arms of Government, in line with the practice at the Federal Level.

 

This was followed by Executive Order 10 by the President, which sought to make state governments comply with the constitutional provisions on autonomy.

 

“Many state governors felt it was an unwarranted usurpation of their constitutional executive powers to control and apportion funds, albeit with the approval of the Legislature. Defiantly, most state governments refused to act on the Executive Order No.10, and this is what has essentially brought us to the present precipice.

 

“As a child of the judiciary who has served in the Executive and who proudly remains a lawyer, I feel the pains and fears of all stakeholders on this impasse. From what I have read, fairly workable solutions are already on the table, but they need quick fine-tuning and concessions on both sides.

 

The time to act is now”. On his part, Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), blamed the Executive and Legislative arms of government for the impasse.

 

The silk while speaking at the launch of a book titled “Testament of Judicial Pronouncement” in honour of Justice Ayodeji Simeon Daramola, the retiring Chief Judge of Ekiti State, noted that the failure of both arms to ensure full fiscal autonomy for the judiciary is endangering the nation’s stability.

 

“Since I started practice in the early 1960s, I have never witnessed the closure of all the courts, even for one day.

 

As a result of the closure, the police are paralysed because they have not been able to charge any suspected criminal to court. Those who have cases in courts or those who want to file new cases are also affected. Of course, you can imagine the effects on the income of lawyers.

 

With this scenario, Nigeria is certainly in crisis. “The executive and the legislature should immediately ensure that the situation in the judiciary is immediately resolved, or else, they are by their action, aiding the collapse of the country”, Babalola said. In his own comments, Human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said it was unfortunate that the government had failed to implement financial autonomy of the judiciary as entrenched in the Constitution.

 

He said: “The governors make it look like they are doing the judiciary a favour. Of course, they think so because they have been handing over car keys to members of the judiciary, particularly judges. “Depriving a child of something he needs would only turn him into an armed robber.

 

The system can never work if the judiciary cannot adjudicate over cases without fear or favour. What happened to the doctrine of separation of powers? “This is what JUSUN is fighting for.

 

The judiciary requires a strong body like JUSUN to wage its wars. We urge the government to speedily resolve this” The judiciary staff under the aegis of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) had on April 6, 2021, proceeded on an indefinite strike action to register their displeasure over state governors’ refusal to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary.

 

The 64-day-old strike is the longest industrial action in the history of Nigerian judiciary. The closest was the one that lasted for only two weeks in January of 2015 over the same issue.

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