Financial Autonomy: Lawyers in Protest as Judiciary Workers Begin Nationwide strike
- Lawyers have marched to the National Assembly in solidarity with judiciary workers over financial autonomy
- The protesters are also demanding some allowance payment
- Nigerian courts have been under lock and key for close to two weeks over the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary
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In a solidarity move, Nigerian lawyers have stormed the National Assembly to protest.
The lawyers are doing this in solidarity with judiciary workers who are demanding financial autonomy. In fact, their leadership has directed them to visit all government houses in the 36 states of the country over this, Channels TV reports.
Source: Facebook
Recall that the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), in a bid to press home their demands, commenced a nationwide strike since April 6.
Specifically, they are demanding the following:
1. Financial autonomy to the judiciary.
2. Payment of peculiar allowances to their members.
JUSUN insisted that as the third arm of the government, the judiciary must have financial autonomy.
Recall that Legit.ng reported that JUSUN members shut down the Supreme Court in Abuja, in line with their threat to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike to press for financial autonomy for the judicial arm of government.
The development came as a defiance to the last minute appeal by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to the workers to shelve the industrial action, which it said was ill-timed considering the COVID-19 constraints the Nigerian courts had been battling with since last year.
Legit.ng gathered that the entrance of the apex court was shut as at 7.10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 6, leaving workers who intended to resume duties after the Easter holiday stranded.
In another report, a magistrate who was taking part in a protest on Tuesday, January 5, collapsed in front of the governor’s office in Calabar, the Cross River state capital.
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The magistrate, Richard Edet, joined his colleagues at the protest venue over the non-payment of their 24 months salaries when the incident occurred.
Fortunately, he was revived by other magistrates with milk and water.
Source: Legit.ng
