Tony John, Port Harcourt
The leadership of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his recent approval of four bills seeking for financial autonomy of the Judiciary, State House of Assemblies and others.
The commendation was made, on Sunday, during the 12th South-South zonal leadership meeting of JUSUN held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
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Speaking at the meeting, Vice President of JUSUN, South-South zone, George Sokari, stressed that the approval for the Judiciary financial autonomy would help the arm of government in efficiently delivering its duty, adding that early implementation of the bill will aid in putting things right in the nation.
Sokari’s wprds, “We, the leaders of JUSUN at the South-South zone, applaud the federal government, especially President Muhammadu Buhari, for accepting to the operation of the four bills that have to do with the financial autonomy of the judiciary and the state assemblies.
“We are looking forward to its implementation and to assure the average judiciary workers that as a zone, we are working in conjunction with the national leadership to ensure that all that needs to be done to ensure that our welfare and wellbeing within the work environment is safeguarded and properly secured, especially the advent of the signing of the four bills and its operation into law”, Sokari stated
Speaking further, on the welfare of its members, Sokari, who is also the Rivers State Chairman of the Union, stated that the leadership of JUSUN at the zone has resolved to call on “the various states government at the South-South zone, to see the peculiarity of the judiciary workers, especially as it has to do with the work they do when it has to do with issue of justice and to see that their promotion matters be attended to with all promptness.
“There are indications that judiciary workers are suffering not just in promotion, but that even when they have been promoted, the financial benefit attached to this promotions are not implemented and yet, the implemented arrears are not also taken into consideration”, the JUSUN official explained.
The union, however, regretted that the Edo State Government was yet to release seven months salaries of its members after an industrial strike held in the state.
Sokari said, “Edo State members’ seven months salaries still withheld as a result of industrial crisis. The zone is once again, knocking on the door of the state government to have reasons to release the withheld salaries of the Edo State workers. We are appealing to the Edo government as a zone, to see reasons to release the withheld seven months salary of the judiciary workers of the state”.
He told newsmen that chairmen of the union from the various states in the zone, had passed a vote of confidence on their national President, Marwan Mustapha Adamu, and other national executive members.
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He added that the recent election of Adamu, as president of confederation of judiciary works in Africa, was a welcome development to the liberation of judiciary workers in Africa.
Meanwhile, the union at the zone has condoled the “Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, the Judicial Service Commission of Rivers State and by extension, the family of the late Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in the state, Emmanuel Aguma, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who passed on recently.
“We feel deeply touched because he is a statutory member of the Judicial Service Commission. And so, we have lost one of our own”, Sokari expressed.