Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria may head for another showdown over the failure of state governors to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding reached between the union and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, which led to the suspension of its strike on June 9.
Over three months after, our correspondent learnt on Monday that the union was not satisfied with the level of compliance by state governors.
The union’s National Treasurer, Jimoh Musa, expressed JUSUN’s displeasure in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Monday.
Musa said the union had also expressed its dissatisfaction in a message sent to the National Judicial Council on the matter recently.
He said the union was aware that the NJC, which intervened in the crisis before the strike was suspended, was making efforts to get across to the governors.
He said, “We are not satisfied. The governors have turned the agreement we reached into political stuff.
“Every day, every state says they have passed laws, but nothing to show for it. It is just paper and announcement work, nothing on the ground to ascertain that something is happening. In fact, there is no compliance from any quarter.
“A Memorandum of Understanding was signed and there was an intervention by the National Judicial Council, the highest body of the judiciary.
“As I am talking to you, there is nothing that is happening with the implementation of the MOU. It is all propaganda and noise every day that they are signing laws. If you sign papers and have not implemented, what have you done? Up till now, we go cap in hand begging them to give us funds.”
Musa also said the time frame which was given as a precondition for the suspension of the strike on June 9 has elapsed, adding that the union would deliberate on the next course of action.
He said a meeting of the union’s National Executive Council was being planned and that the decision on the next line of action would be taken.
“When we suspended the strike, we gave a time frame and the time frame has elapse. The union is looking at calling a NEC meeting, but the date has not been set. We will soon fix a date to converge again and look at the state of things,” he added.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that JUSUN in its fight to achieve the financial autonomy of the judiciary had embarked on a strike action on April 6, which was suspended on June 9.