The federal government, recently bowed to JUSUN’s demand for the implementation of the court judgment on financial autonomy of the judiciary. In the MoU, the funds will henceforth be released through the NJC, Senior Correspondent, JUDE KENNETH, reports.
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) planned strike of December 1 to press home their demand for the implementation of the court judgment, which granted financial autonomy to the third arm of the government – the judiciary –was averted due to positive outcome of series of meetings held between representatives of the federal government and the leadership of JUSUN.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on January 13, 2014 restrained the federal government and the 36 states of the federation from holding onto the funds meant for the judiciary, only to be disbursing the funds in bits as its pleases the executives.
When it became obvious that the executive arm of government was not keen in implementing the judgment, JUSUN commenced its strike in August and only suspended it in September when the federal government representatives promised to set up a technical committee to look into the implementation of the judgment. However, the technical committee began to dilly-dally on the implementation, thus prompting JUSUN to give a seven-day ultimatum to the federal government and the 36 states of the federation to implement the judgment, otherwise the union threatened to embark on indefinite nationwide strike from December 1.
Apparently aware of the negative impact of the strike, the federal government invited the leadership of JUSUN for a meeting to ratify the issue at stake. After series of meetings on the issue, the federal government agreed to implement the court judgment with effect from the next federal allocation.
MoU reached
According to the agreement reached by the parties, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) will commence the implementation of the federal high court judgment delivered during the next Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting which is holding in two weeks.
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached at the end of series of meetings between the Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity, Kabiru Turaki, the leadership of JUSUN and other stakeholders, it was agreed that the AGF will make deductions during the next FAAC meeting to the National Judicial Council (NJC) in line with the court judgment. However, it was agreed that the deductions will be done based on the actual funds released that can be defended by the respective states and concurred by JUSUN.
Part of the MoU reads: “The issue of concern to the members of JUSUN remains the implementation of the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on January 13, 2014, regarding sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“On November 27, 2014, as a follow-up, a meeting was called in the instance of the Supervising Minister of Labour with JUSUN among other stakeholders to discuss the outcome of the last meeting held on November 19, 2014, in that regard.”
The meeting noted that the assignment given to the Director, Home Finance, had been executed. “The figures submitted by JUSUN had been reconciled with the budgeted estimates by the states’ accountants-general. Based on the above, it was concluded that the AGF will make deductions during the next FAAC meeting to the NJC in line with the court judgment, based on the actual funds released that can be defended by the respective states and concurred by JUSUN.”
According to the MoU, which was jointly signed by the permanent secretary, Ministry of Labour, Clement Illoh; the accountant-general of the federation, Jonah Otunla; JUSUN President, Marwan Mustapha Adamu; Director, Home Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance and others, the proposed strike of December 1 was suspended.
Implementation
In order to be in tandem with the agreement reached with JUSUN and to act in conformity with the provisions of the constitution as regards judicial autonomy, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has signed Judiciary Autonomy Bill into Law.
Assenting to the bill at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House, Governor Dickson said “the move was a demonstration of the importance my administration attaches to the financial autonomy of the Judiciary”.
He added: “Having had the privilege of being a member of the Bar as well as attorney-general of the state and now governor, I am in a better position to provide the requirements of the judiciary towards improving the delivery of justice in the state.”
With the autonomy of the judiciary now in place, he expressed confidence in the third arm of government to manage its affairs, especially in financial matters in line with the rules of the public service.
“With effect from the life of the next budget, I or any other governor that will come after me will not have to treat approvals and requests from the judiciary anymore,” Dickson said.
“Our democracy is not safe and it cannot be secured. Our civil rights cannot be protected unless we strengthen our judiciary, which alone has the constitutional authority to deepen our freedoms and protect our fundamental liberties.”
In the same vein, Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has given legal backing to financial autonomy of the judiciary in the state by signing the Delta State Judiciary Financial Autonomy Bill into Law. While signing the bill, he said his administration would ensure that the judiciary handles its capital project independently without interference from the executive.
It is expected that with the MoU reached between the federal government, JUSUN leadership and other stakeholders, other state governments will toe the line of industrial harmony in the judiciary sector by signing into law the financial autonomy of judiciary in the their respective states.
More importantly, the National Judicial Council (NJC) should follow up along with JUSUN, the full adherence to the MoU by all the 36 states of the federation.
Accountability
It is cheering news that the federal government has agreed to implement the court judgment on financial autonomy of the judiciary, but the allocation should be judiciously managed by the judiciary. There should be proper accountability of the funds released to the judiciary by the NJC, and the funds should be used for the benefit and uplift of the judiciary at both the federal and state levels.
There should be massive re-construction and expansion of court buildings across the nation, provision of equipment for quick justice delivery. Items such as electronic recording equipment, microphones for usage in the courts, verbatim recording gadgets, files, computers, air conditioners for conducive courtrooms and good lighting should be provided, so that our courts can measure favourably with other courts of international standard.