By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
The meeting convened on Monday, April 12 at the instance of Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige in his office to resolve the ongoing strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) failed to reach a meaningful agreement as the Union insisted that its demand for full financial autonomy of the judiciary must be met.- Consequently, the meeting will reconvene on Thursday. Present at the meeting with the leadership of JUSUN were the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr Charles Akpan; representatives of the Solicitor General of the Federation; the Nigeria Bar Association and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Eta Enag.
Ironically, no governor or their representative was at the meeting, even though they are the ones mostly flouting the constitutional and executive order on financial autonomy for the judiciary.
JUSUN began its nationwide industrial action on Tuesday last week to press home the demand for full financial autonomy of the judiciary as provided in the 1999 constitution (as amended), the court judgement of 2014 and the Executive Order 10 of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is one of the major demands amongst others.- The Union had embarked on nationwide industrial action in 2015 for same demands but later suspended it after series of meetings in which they were assured of the implementation of their demands. However, since then the situation remained the same, particularly at state government levels. The state governors refused to grant financial autonomy to their state judiciary, this putting the fate of Judiciary officers and workers at the mercy of state governors.
At the meeting on Monday between the Federal government representatives and the leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, an appeal was made by Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Chris Ngige to the Union to suspend its nationwide industrial action, which had paralysed activities in courts all over the country.
While making the appeal, Chris Ngige, reminded the Judiciary workers that like doctors and nurses, they were on essential duties and should not embark on strike.- In a statement by Ngige through the ministry of labour and employment spokesman, Mr Charles Akpan, titled, ‘FG appeals to JUSUN to suspend strike’, he said, “You are important people and that is why we waited to see if there could be an in-house conciliation with the Chief Justice of Nigeria but since progress was not made, we decided to exercise our mandate here as Ministry of Labour and Employment.
“Grant us peace and we are going to handle this matter in a way that doesn’t lose sight of what you are pursuing. I will do a report on this meeting and forward to the President when he returns.”
“I will make a commitment here. The Executive Order 10 and its application, granting autonomy to the judiciary which is topmost on your demand will be tackled because it is a constitutional issue.
“Even governors owe their office to the constitution. You don’t pick and choose what to obey. However, we must handle this matter with maturity and utmost patriotism,” Ngige assured.
“The country cannot make progress economically and socially, when the laws of the country are not enforced”.
He pleaded to the striking Judiciary workers to go back to work so that when the judicial officers return from the Easter vacation, they would not meet the strike.
However, the JUSUN President, Marwan Mustafa, maintained that they were guided by the constitution of the country in their action.
“Having agitated for so long for the needful to be done and it is not done, we went to court and got a judgement before 2014. We are patient. We are not lawless people because we work in a sector where the rule of law guides our operation. But to our amazement, since we went on strike in 2015, the government seems not to hear us until now.”
The JUSUN leadership insisted that the strike would not be called off until the Union’s demand is met, saying this was the last strike.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a Federation and is guided by a Constitution. However, we observed that the particular provision of the constitution that grants financial autonomy to the judiciary has never been obeyed as much as it should be, particularly Section 21(3) and Section 81(3)”. Mustafa said.- Strike Takes Toll
Meanwhile, as the court’s resume from Easter vacation on Monday April 12, there were no activities due to the ongoing JUSUN strike. At the Federal High Court Ikoyi Lagos, the court complex was deserted by workers. The courtrooms were locked. Only the security guards were at the gates. The strike has affected matters slated for hearing on Monday, April 12. It has also affected litigants seeking to enforce their fundamental rights. It has also affected rulings and judgements to be delivered by judges in various divisions of the court.
The inmates of Nigerian Correctional Services nationwide awaiting trial are mostly affected as their trials are now in jeopardy. This unfortunate development has caused overcrowding at detention facilities.
The situation has necessitated the acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to his men to avoid unnecessary arrests and detention as the strike has prevented the police and other law enforcement agencies from arraigning suspects in courts, which have remained shut since last week.
On Monday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CP Frank Mba, said the acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, had ordered Commissioners of police to ensure that unnecessary arrests were avoided.
Mba, who described the strike as unfortunate, said the IGP ordered that alternative dispute resolution be explored in certain cases while administrative bail should be given where possible.
He said, “Whenever the court system is paused, the police investigations processes suffer greatly. Our investigation processes also suffer based on the fact that certain orders, authorisations that are supposed to be processed from the court are either delayed or impossible to obtain.
“Consequently, the IG has already issued an internal directive to police commissioners and those heading specialised units to ensure that persons who are qualified to go on bail are granted administrative bail without delay.
“The IG also encouraged officers to explore the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to deal with cases that can be resolved using ADR without infringing on any law. He has also given express directive that conscious efforts should be made to decongest cells and avoid making frivolous arrests or arrests that are not very important in the advancement of the course of justice.”
Similarly, the spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service, Mr. Frank Enobore, prayed for the end of the strike as the prolonged detention of inmates could increase tension and spark a prison riot.- He disclosed that about 95 per cent of the time, prison riots were caused by persons awaiting trial or condemned inmates. He, however, added that the strike had equally stopped new inmates from coming in, since courts were shut.
Enobore said, “In a way we are not too affected because we are not seeing an influx of persons coming into the correctional centres but the irony is that we get more concerned when people are not leaving our facilities than when they are coming in.
“This is because if those who are to go to court cannot go, it will create tension. It means those who have the hope of leaving the correctional centre will have to remain there till courts resume duty. It creates tension for us, it creates concern because when the yard is tensed up, anything can happen.
“If you look at the history of internal insurrection in our facilities all this while, I can say close to 95 per cent of them are engineered by either those awaiting trial or those that are condemned to death. So, these are the areas we are getting pressure. So, the courts being shut are of concern to us.”- A human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the government to meet the demands of the striking Judiciary workers.
He made reference to year 2020 when courts were shut for several months due to COVID-19 pandemic. He recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic affected several cases.
“Courts have been shut again, it would mean that certain cases would be adjourned indefinitely and this would mean that persons would be unjustly detained for longer than expected”.
“The courts were on break for almost a year because of the COVID-19 challenge. Now that the courts should resume in earnest and the strike, ordinary people are affected. For those who are in prison, their case would have to be adjourned sine die which is not good.- “So, we appeal to the state and federal government to address the demands of these workers.” Falana appealed.
LEDAN To Governors
In the same vein, Law Editors of Nigeria (LEDAN) on Monday called on Nigerian governors to honour the words and letters of the constitution by granting the fiscal independence of the judiciary in their respective states.
In a statement signed by the President of LEDAN, Mr John Unachukwu, and General Secretary, Mustapha Ogunsakin, the association reminded the governors that the services of the judiciary is for everyone, including them, whether in or out of office.
Parts of the statement read: “Law Editors Association of Nigeria (LEDAN), is worried about the state of the nation’s judiciary and this has compelled us to add our voice on the need for those elected by the people, particularly the 36 state governors in Nigeria to respect the law as it concerns the independence of the Judiciary;- “For the second week, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has been on a nationwide strike to compel the Federal Government and 36 state governours of the Federation of Nigeria to comply with the law and obey the relevant provisions of the Nigerian constitution, the Executive Order of the President and decisions of our courts on the financial independence and autonomy of the Judiciary;
- “It is on record that the governors for inexplicable reason(s) have refused to comply with extant laws, leaving the state of our judiciary in comatose. This is despite the fact that the administration of the justice system of the country has its own particular challenges that have over time resulted in the Nigerian people substantially losing confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man;
- “The disastrous effect of the JUSUN strike can be best imagined. Thousands of Awaiting Trial Inmates who are languishing in our correctional centres have had their trials not only delayed, but their time in jail elongated unnecessarily. Commercial disputes that are meant for urgent adjudication are put on hold and several businesses local and international, are delayed and in some cases truncated because the avenue for the resolution of their disputes have been shut down. Yet, the same governors responsible for this chaos on the judicial system canvass for foreign investments in their respective states everyday”.
LEDAN noted that JUSUN is not asking for pecuniary gains for its members, but what will benefit every citizen, including the governors too.
“It is apposite to remind the governors that Sections 81 (3) and 121 (3) of the Constitution of Nigeria, grant financial autonomy to both Federal and State Judiciaries in the Federation. These constitutional provisions have been judicially tested in our courts in the following cases viz: JUDICIARY STAFF UNION OF NIGERIA VS NATIONAL JUDICIAL COUNCIL & GOVERNORS OF THE 36 STATES in (SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/667/13); OLISA AGBAKOBA VS FG, THE NJC & NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (SUIT NO. FHC/ABJ/CS/63/2013); and OLISA AGBAKOBA VS AG, EKITI STATE & 2 OTHERS (SUIT NO. NAD/56/2013). “
The law editors recall that in obedience to the constitution and judicial decisions, President Muhammadu Buhari issued Executive Order 10 of 2020, wherein he directed for the implementation of the financial autonomy for the judiciary.
However, just like the governors ignored the President’s Executive Order on Local Government Autonomy, they are also breaching the laws relating to the Judicial Autonomy.
LEDAN is therefore pleading with Nigerian State Governors to move Nigeria forward, obey the rule of law, stop this assault and impunity on the laws of the land. They should remember that some of them are Governors today courtesy of judicial intervention, they too need the judiciary if not today, then sometime in future. The present crop of governors will have cause, whether as individuals, or representatives of their states, to rely on the same judiciary for the resolution of conflicts.
“It amounts to cutting one’s nose to spite the face for the governors to sabotage a system that they need its services whether now or in the future. It is, therefore, in their own enlightened interest to comply with the extant laws on the independence of the judiciary and we urge them to do so now.
“We also call on media organisations to join LEDAN in solidarity to put pressure on the governors over this very crucial issue. This is not the time that the media should sit on the fence. Ours is a developing country and all hands must be on the deck to make things right.”
Why courts may remain shut for a long time
JUSUN