Workers’ strike paralyses courts nationwide - Their demands unrealistic, says CJN

By Our Reporter - 05.02.2008

WORKERS in the country’s judiciary on Monday embarked on a nationwide industrial action and many courts and tribunals could not sit as a result of the strike.

Also, the strike stalled the ruling on the bail application brought by the former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, in Kaduna.

Friends and political associates of Ibori left Kaduna on Monday disappointed as the strike embarked upon by the judiciary workers in Nigeria stalled the ruling on the bail application.

Although the former governor was brought to the Federal High Court, Kaduna, by prison officials accompanied by policemen at 8.45 a.m., Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaibu had to adjourn the case to a later date and was seen walking towards his chambers.

Ibori, who had earlier appeared hopeful of getting bail, often acknowledging cheers from his friends and well-wishers, looked disturbed as the security agents and prison officials led him into a vehicle and drove back to the Kaduna prison.

Thereafter, the court officials on strike directed everybody to get out of the court premises and locked the main gate with a huge padlock.

According to one of the officials who asked for anonymity, "we want to monitor the situation of things as events unfold. The court did not want to take chances due to the sensitive nature of the case.

“We do not want a situation whereby people will cash in on the on-going strike to cause confusion. That is the reason the court, in its wisdom, decided to adjourn.

"It’s not indefinite as such. I tell you it is not going to be too long. It can even be tomorrow (February 5, 2008) or even next tomorrow (February 6, 2008), depending on the situation. But definitely, hearing notice will be sent to both the prosecution and the defence counsel on the new date for the case."

The commencement of the nationwide strike saw all courts in the Federal Capital Territory including the Supreme Court shut down.

The National Legal Adviser of the association, Mr. Nnamani David, told the Nigerian Tribune that the workers were demanding for the deepening of the independence of the judiciary as it affected workers’ welfare.

The worst hit by the strike was the Court of Appeal, Abuja, serving as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, which had to postpone till today, the adoption of final addresses of parties in petitions filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and General Muhammadu Buhari on the outcome of the April 21 presidential election.

A team from different zone, seeing to the enforcement of the union’s decision, had taken over the only gate leading to the appeal court premises before the arrival of court workers, lawyers, judges and journalists, with everybody locked out.

All entreaties by top lawyers in the crowd could not sway the monitoring team, and a battery of armed regular and mobile police officers had to surrender to the wish of the union after the monitoring team met their bravado with the same resistance, while trying to dislodge the team from the gate.

It also took intervention of the court workers before the monitoring team could allow the panel of justices sitting on the presidential election petitions, who were in mufti, to enter the court premises, with the presiding justice, James Ogebe, being the first to be allowed in.

Other members were later allowed in, with shouts of disapproval trailing an attempt by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoaaka (SAN), to also enter the premises after the justices were allowed in.

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, entrances into the premises of the magistrate and high courts at Ring road and Iyaganku were deserted.

Concrete blocks were mounted at the entrances to stop the passage of vehicles while security men turned back lawyers and litigants who had businesses in the courts.

The chairman of the Oyo State branch of the union, Mr. Jelili Obisesan, had last Thursday in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, stated their resolve to resume the strike that was suspended in March 2006.

Most judiciary workers who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said the strike would go on indefinitely until the government was ready to address their grievances.

The strike stalled the resumed hearing of the appeal case between the Delta State Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate, Mr. Peter Okocha and the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Okocha had gone to the appellate court in Benin City after the Election Petition Tribunal in Delta State threw out his petition challenging the declaration of Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as governor of the state.

The strike, which apparently took many members of the public by surprise, was not only in force at the Court of Appeal, where the resumed hearing was scheduled to have taken place, but also at the Federal High Court and the state High Court.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the judicial workers were demanding increase in their salaries and general enhancement of their pay packages. A man who claimed to be a staff member of the Court of Appeal said this was the first time that all the judicial workers in the country were jointly embarking on strike.

Workers of the various courts were seen milling around the locked main entrance gates of the courts. The gates to the court buildings were also shut.

The strike paralysed judicial activities in Osun State. All entrance into the premises of Osun State High Court also housing the two Election Petition Tribunals were under lock and key. Members of the tribunal and judges could not gain access into the premises and they were forced to leave.

Also affected by the strike were customary courts, magistrate courts, state high courts both at Ile-Ife, Ilesa, Osogbo, Iwo, Gbongan and Ede. The striking workers were mobilised for the action by the state leadership of the union. Some of them who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune said they were only obeying the directive from the national secretariat of the union.

Efforts to speak with the state Chief Judge, Justice Fasasi Ogunsola, failed as he was said to have travelled outside the state on official matters. Activities of the Ekiti State Election Petition tribunal sitting at Ado-Ekiti were on Monday grounded by the workers of the state Ministry of Justice who embarked upon the strike.

As early as 8.00 a.m, the premises of the Ado-Ekiti High Court, venue of the state election petition tribunal, were under lock and key and the striking workers, under the aegis of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), who were seen around, vowed not to allow any judicial activity in the premises for as long as the appropriate authorities refused to look into their demands.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the striking judiciary workers were protesting over poor conditions of service, agitation for a unified salary structure as obtains in the public service, as well as the issue of pension, among other issues.

Speaking with newsmen at the entrance to the High Court premises, General Secretary of JUSUN, Pastor Samuel Jemiluyi, said that the industrial action was an indefinite national strike which commenced on Monday after the expiration last Friday of the 14-day ultimatum given to the concerned authorities to attend to the demands of the striking workers.

Activities were paralysed at the Ondo State judiciary on Monday, as the workers joined their counterparts in other states to embark on an indefinite strike to press home their demands for increase in pay.

A visit to the state high court and magistrate court showed that the workers had mobilised themselves and shut all the gates leading to the courts.

Movements in and out of the courts were prevented by the workers, with many people that had cases in the courts reportedly prevented from gaining entrance into the court premises.

Apart from this, some of the people that had come to the premises to give evidence before the election petition tribunal were driven out by the workers despite the fact that the tribunal was sitting.

To show their seriousness about the strike, notices warning judiciary workers to stay away from work were seen pasted on the walls at the main entrance of the court.

Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Legbo Kutigi, on Monday said that the demands of the striking judicial workers were unrealistic.

The CJN spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said that there could not be uniform salary structure for the judicial officers and staff except there was an amendment to the 1999 Constitution.

Kutigi, who spoke through the Supreme Court Chief Registrar, Alhaji Usman Musale, described as “wrong and unfortunate,” the nationwide strike embarked upon by the workers.

“No notice was given before the strike, we just woke up this morning, coming to the office and found the gates barricaded by the striking junior members of the courts.

“Supreme Court has not, in history, witnessed this kind of embarrassing and unfortunate situation,’’ he said.