FG not responsible for judiciary workers’ strike —Adoke

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, yesterday, said the Federal Government should not be held responsible for the eight days industrial action that has crippled judicial activities across the country.

This came as former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, and member of the National Judicial Council, NJC, Mr O. C. J. Okocha, SAN, yesterday asked the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, to call off its strike to enable the NBA to proceed from where they stopped the fight for judicial autonomy. Continue..

In a statement in Abuja yesterday, Adoke maintained that Nigerians should hold the various state governments accountable for the indefinite strike declared by JUSUN.

The strike which commenced on January 5, a date scheduled for the judiciary to resume work after its yuletide, has stalled hearing on several political matters bothering on nomination of candidates for the impending general elections.

It has also weighed down on political parties, especially in states where parallel primary elections held.

This is even as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has fixed today as the final day for submission of names of candidates for the election.

Meantime, in a statement signed by the Director of Information at the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Charles Nwodo, the AGF also insisted that the closure of courts in the country was as a result of the refusal by some state governors to obey a Federal High Court judgment that had on January 13, 2014, declared financial autonomy for the judiciary.

“The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice notes with concern the on-going strike embarked upon by JUSUN to press for the implementation of the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered on January 13, 2014 (Coram, A.F.A. Ademola ) in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/667/13.

“The Federal High Court, among other things, ordered that the amount standing to the credit of the states’ judiciary in the Federation/Consolidated Revenue Fund be paid directly to the heads of courts in the various states’ judiciary in compliance with the provisions of sections 81(3), 121 (3) and 162 (9) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Strike directed  at state govts

“This strike is unfortunate and has paralyzed the activities of the judiciary throughout the federation. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is, however, constrained to issue this statement in view of the misconceptions and insinuations in the print and electronic media concerning the strike and the efforts being made to address the implementation challenges posed by the judgement.

“It is important to observe as follows: That the Federal Government is not in breach or violation of the aforementioned judgment of the Federal High Court. This much has been publicly acknowledged by JUSUN in all their statements and deliberations;

“That the strike is actually directed at state governments that are yet to comply with the judgment;

“That federal courts are thus only on sympathy strike with their state counterparts.

“The foregoing notwithstanding, the Supervising Minister of Labour and Productively has been working assiduously with relevant stakeholders to resolve all the challenges that may have militated against the implementation of the judgment of the court.

“The Federal Government acknowledges the imperative of an efficient and effective judiciary to our democratic consolidation and is doing all that is within its constitutional powers to ensure full implementation of the judgement.

“We, therefore, call on all well-meaning Nigerians to appreciate the dynamics of the federal structure that Nigeria operates and the constitutional limits of the Federal Government when dealing with the states especially with respect to matters within their constitutional mandates.”

Call off strike, Okocha tells JUSUN

Okocha said in as much as there was justification for the strike, the union had made its point and should call off the strike, adding that NBA would stand as guarantor to stakeholders to ensure that the issue was addressed accordingly.

Meanwhile, the courts may not resume until next week as a meeting between the workers and the government representatives has already been tentatively fixed for the weekend to resolve the issues.

He said:“In as much as there is justification for the strike embarked upon by the JUSUN, I think they have made their point and should call off the strike so that we can then proceed from there.

“It is not appropriate to shut down the courts for an indefinite period of time. The court symbolises the liberty of the citizens of Nigeria, and indeed of any constitutional democracy. And when you shut down the courts, you are now leaving the citizens with no option; no avenue to ventilate their grievances.

“It is even worse for criminal suspects who are either in police custody or awaiting arraignment before the court or in prison custody awaiting trial for their offences.

“So I believe that having maintained the strike for one week, JUSUN has made its point and they should call off the strike. This is a very critical stage of our nation’s development. This is a time when we are preparing for elections, and pre-election and post-election controversies will arise, including criminal offences related to election.”

“Just like the NBA, which I belong to, has already appealed, I appeal to JUSUN to kindly call off the strike. A point has been made; the issues to be tabled for discussion will now be tabled for discussion. And the NBA, I believe, will stand as guarantor to ensure that all concerned will take the problem serious and address the issue accordingly.”

Another Seniour Advocate, Tayo Oyetibo, who spoke with Vanguard on telephone asked the government to call the executive of the JUSUN and discuss with them, with a view to resolving the issues at stake.

Oyetibo stressed that when workers go on strike, government ought to show interest in addressing their complaints so as to restore normalcy.

He sai9d: “The whole strike is about autonomy for the judiciary, which I think the government should just look into because the public is the one bearing the brunt of the strike.”

On what should be done to suspects in police custody as the strike entred its second week, Oyetibo said: “Those in police custody can be granted bail, if the offence is a bailable one. You grant them police bail pending when the courts will re-open, and then you charge them to court.

“You cannot say that because of strike, you will continue to keep them in detention for reasons that are unlawful. Most offences are bailable, so the police should grant them bail and allow them to go on production of sureties.”

JUSUN shut down courts across the country on January 5 to compel the authorities to comply with the court judgement and the Memoranda of Understanding, MoU, of January 13, 2014 and August 1, 2014 respectively on the autonomy.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola had on January 14, 2014, following a suit by JUSUN, restrained the Federal Government and the 36 state governors from holding on to funds meant for the judiciary.