THE Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies have appealed to the leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to call off strike.
Governor of Sokoto State Aminu Tambuwal, who is also Deputy Chairman of the NGF, made the appeal on Thursday in Abuja after a meeting with the Conference of Speakers of State Assemblies at the office of the Chief of Staff to the President Ibrahim Gambari.
“We’ve just finished talking to the speakers, and indeed the state chief judges and the judiciary to continue to engage. The Minister of Labour is also engaging with the striking bodies to appeal to them, to appreciate the fact that we have made progress,” Tambuwal said.
“We’re appealing to them in the interest of this country that they should call off the strike,” Tambuwal further said.
He added that progress had been made in the negotiations and the matter would be put to rest by next week.
The governor said during the meeting with the speakers and Chief of Staff to the President, substantial progress was made and only finishing touches were left to be made to meet the demand of the judicial workers.
“As I told you before, some of the issues are constitutional and when matters have to do with the constitution, you have to be sure of what you’re doing that you’re actually following the constitution,” he said.
He reiterated that governors had always been in support of the autonomy of state legislature and the judiciary.
JUSUN had commenced an indefinite strike over the failure of state assemblies to implement financial autonomy for judicial workers at state levels.
The battle between federal, state governments and judicial workers has been lingering since 2015 when JUSUN embarked on three weeks’ strike to protest the non-implementation of financial autonomy.
Six years down the line, the judicial workers and the governments have been unable to find a long-lasting agreement to completely resolve all issues about financial autonomy.
Similarly, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has also urged the judicial workers to suspend their strike action because of its consequences on the judicial administration in the country.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94