Against the background of the ongoing strike which commenced on April 6, 2021, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, has made its stand known.
JUSUN, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, I. M. Adetola, said each state should implement its self-accounting law in dealing with the Internally Generated Revenue
“Each state should implement its self-accounting law or Fund Management law in dealing with Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) also known as state consolidated fund) in accordance to (sic) section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria as amended. While the states that have not yet signed the Bill into law should do so without delay.” JUSUN said
Furthermore, the Union maintained that amount standing to the credit of the judiciary from the monthly federal allocation should be deducted directly from the source by Accountant General of the Federation and remit same to NJC for onward transmission to heads of courts
JUSUN said, “For the Federation Consolidated Account also known as Federal Allocation, the Budget of each State Judiciary submitted to the implementation committee (received on the 2nd of October, 2020) should be implemented by deducting the amount due to the state judiciary directly from the source by Accountant General of the Federation in accordance to section 81(3), section 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria (as amended) for the states. The Accountant General of the Federation should be directed accordingly.
That is, the Accountant General of the Federation should deduct from the monthly Federal Allocation and remit it to NJC for onward transmission of the fund to the Heads of Courts at the State Judiciary. Sections 81(3),162(8)”
The Union also posited that the implementation requested above should include payment of the arrears from the month of October, 2020
Recall that the JUSUN has been on strike since April 6. The workers are demanding financial autonomy for the nation’s judiciary in compliance with the Nigerian Constitution and a judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which affirmed the relevant constitutional provisions in a January 2014 judgment.
