Counting losses of judicial workers’ strike

However, the workers under the aegis of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), on Monday resumed work across the country after an agreement with relevant government stakeholders on the implementation of the two separate orders of the Federal High Court in Abuja.JUSUN led by its President Marwan Mustapha had filed the first suit in […]

However, the workers under the aegis of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), on Monday resumed work across the country after an agreement with relevant government stakeholders on the implementation of the two separate orders of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
JUSUN led by its President Marwan Mustapha had filed the first suit in 2012 challenging the piecemeal payment of funds accruing to the judiciary from the consolidated revenue fund contrary to the provisions of sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution.
On January 13, Justice AdeniyiAdemola of a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the federal government are in the breach of constitutional provisions as it affects judicial funding, adding that “the executive should act decisively to avert a constitutional crisis.”
Also on May 26 ruling on another suit by Lagos lawyer OlisaAgbakoba (SAN), Justice Ahmed Mohammed held that funds standing to the credit of the judiciary ought not to be part of executive financial estimates before the National Assembly, but should be drawn as first line charge from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.  In other words, that the funds should be paid to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for express disbursement to various heads of court as provided for in the constitution.
The human rights activist had contended that the lack of autonomy of the judiciary is responsible for “the state of underfunding, poor and inadequate infrastructure, low morale among the personnel, alleged corruption in the judiciary, delays in the administration of justice and service delivery, and general low quality and poor output by the judiciary.”
To press for the implementation of the various orders, judicial workers in Lagos kicked off the strike on July 11 and were joined by others across the country. In Abuja, the various courts such as: Federal Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, FCT High Court, Judicial Service Commission, Customary Court of Appeal, Sharia Court of Appeal and National Industrial Court were totally shut down.
Wakilu’s ordeal therefore is the fate of thousands of court users in the country. Over the three weeks, litigants have had their hopes for justice dashed. In the FCT alone, over 2, 000 fresh cases were lost within the period of the industrial action. Even deponents seeking to file affidavits of general forms, age declaration, declarations of marriage and change of name have been denied leading to loss of revenue for the government.
Several cases suffered undue adjournments during the period. For instance, the case of former PDP Chairman Vincent Ogbulafor in an Abuja High Court which was billed for judgment and that of the Speaker of the Lagos Assembly, AdeyemiKuforiji in a Lagos Federal Court, which was for ruling on the no-case submission, were all stalled.
It is estimated that about 42,000 inmates were affected by the three-week industrial action of the judicial workers in the country.
Prison Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ope  Fatinikun, said there were about 56,000 inmates currently locked up in the Nigerian prison among whom about 75 per cent of them were awaiting trial.
He said in Lagos State alone, the strike had stalled cases of the awaiting trial inmates in about 200 courts, where the prison authorities take prisoners to everyday.
“You know what it means to have 75 per cent of your inmates awaiting trial and need to be taking to court? For example, in Lagos, we take inmates to almost 200 courts per day,” he said.
But the battle has not been solely for judicial workers as several experts and other stakeholders are supporting their action. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) have added their voice in the call for the adherence to the provisions of the constitution on judicial autonomy similar to the other two arms: the executive and the legislature.
The President of the NBA Okey Wali (SAN) has been consistent in criticizing the dwindling budget of the judiciary in the last couple of years despite increase in oil revenues by the country. (For instance, the judiciary got N95 billion in 2010; N85 billion in 2011; N75 billion in 2012 and N67 billion in 2013.) This dwindling revenue is inspite of increased demands of the judiciary in wage bills and infrastructure.
This year’s budget recently signed by President Goodluck Jonathan allocated the sum of N68 billion to the judiciary. The funds will be spent on personnel cost, salaries and wages and other overhead expenditures.
“Government must recognize that the Judiciary is the third arm of government in any civilized society. Accordingly, the independence of the Judiciary must be guaranteed and secured. To secure the independence of the Judiciary, government must grant to it, true financial autonomy, and a full self-accounting status. The funds of the judiciary must be released to it as soon as same is approved in the budgets of the Federal and State governments,” Wali said.
Publicity secretary of NLC Chinedu Bosah urged the union to make further demands on the welfare of staff.
‘’The fact that the strike enjoys nationwide support of the rank and file of the union including the federal court workers shows the need to widen the demands,” he said.
Overall, stakeholders and the public are positive that the industrial action has been a necessary route to the transformation of the judiciary.  This is because of the fact that a virile judiciary will ensure rule of law, strong democracy and economic development for Nigeria.