JUSUN strike: Abia defends position on financial autonomy for judiciary, reacts to NBA threat

EMEKA OKAFOR, UMUAHIA

As the strike action embarked by members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) , Abia State chapter enters the second month over the union’s several requests to the State government including demand for full financial autonomy for the Judiciary, State Government has reinforced  its position by  insisting that the judiciary in the State has been enjoying substantial compliance to financial autonomy under Governor Alex Otti administration.

Director General, Strategic Communication Bureau of the State government, Barr. Onyebuchi Ememanka disclosed this on Thursday evening, in a joint press conference with the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma held at Government House Umuahia.

“On the issue of financial autonomy, this is where the government needs to make a clarification because there seems to be this fixation and I dare say confusion about the real meaning of financial autonomy for the judiciary.

“We run a federation, there are tiers of government, in the state, funding comes from the state government based on budgets, now what happens in practise is that every month, government disburses funds according to budget estimates and according to what is available.

“the executive arm of government does not pay salaries to judiciary staff. What happens is that every month they will come up with their bill and government pays this bulk sum to them. So Chief Judge who is the head of that arm of government determines how these funds will be apportioned and this is not restricted to salaries alone.

“We are talking about overhead we’re talking about capital subventions, when these funds come into the judiciary account from the executive because there is a common pulse. So it is from that common pulse that these disbursements are made.

“There’s a Judicial Service Commission. They hire their staff. They promote their staff. They retire their staff. They pay them. So I do not understand what else they mean by financial independence,” Barr. Ememanka explained.

He maintained that the government has made substantial progress in resolving the ongoing strike by Abia state chapter of the judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), saying that most disputed issues have been settled.

He said that government has been engaging the union and has almost concluded everything.

“I can tell you that the state government has been in daily engagement with the leadership of JUSUN. Even as at yesterday (Wednesday), there has been regular interfaces, meetings have been held talks are ongoing and as we speak, we are almost at the point of final resolution of the issues that led to this strike.

“One of the cardinal issues that led to this strike was the issue of Leave Allowance. Our position as a government was that all workers who earn consolidated salaries have a component of leave built into their salaries and in the course of these negotiations, it was discovered by JUSUN themselves that our position had been correct all along.

“The only point of divergence was that prior to the 2025 agreement between government and JUSUN , what they were getting was five percent as their leave bonus, but the 2025 agreement, what was agreed there was 10 percent, which is what they are actually getting so they are asking for arears that were owed before the 2025 agreement, so it became clear that leave bonus had always been there for them, and government has said well, we are prepared to pay the five percent arrears. So the issue of Leave Bonus has been conclusively settled.

“Secondly, the other issue that formed part of the reasons for the strike was the issue of pensions to retired judiciary staff and the government position is that nobody will earn pension, except you are verified. As we speak, verification of retired judiciary workers has commenced,” Barr. Ememanka stated.

“We are talking about overhead we’re talking about capital subventions, when these funds come into the judiciary account from the executive because there is a common pulse. So it is from that common pulse that these disbursements are made.

“There’s a Judicial Service Commission. They hire their staff. They promote their staff. They retire their staff. They pay them. So I do not understand what else they mean by financial independence,” Barr. Ememanka explained.

The Director General, who used the forum to give clarification on the communique issued by the Forum of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Chairmen in the state, said that the impression the body created does not reflect the current realities about the strike.

He added that, the NBA’s assumptions of being snubbed by the Governor, by not honouring its application for courtesy visit made this same April as well as the request to meet with the Attorney General  that did not work were unfounded, as the NBA even declined the option of virtual meeting given by the Attorney General, who was outside the state on an official assignment within the week the request was made, while the Governor, given his busy schedule of his office, has not delayed in approving its application.