JUSUN strike: Financial autonomy for Legislature/Judiciary starts May - NGF
Posted by FN Editor | 3 years ago | 819 times
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, yesterday assured that issues surrounding the implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary and legislature at the state level will be completed by May.
The assurance by the governors came just as lawyers in various states across the country staged peaceful protests yesterday to demand autonomy for the judiciary.
Chairman of the NGF, and governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who led other governors and representatives of both the judiciary and legislature to a harmonisation meeting in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said all parties had reached an agreement on the way forward.
The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, had embarked on nationwide strike over inability of state governors to grant financial autonomy to the judiciary and legislature at the state levels.
The governors had earlier said that they are not against granting financial autonomy to the judiciary and legislature at the state level but noted that they had issues with the terms of implementation.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting, Dr Fayemi said the meeting had reached conclusions agreeable to all the parties involved.
He said though the governors would not fix a time-frame for the implementation, it should be as soon as the document being put together had been finally and properly cleaned up, which he said should not be later than the end of May.
‘Agreement reached’
He said: “We are here for legislative and judicial autonomy and the governors, the speakers and the judges are on the same page, as far as this issue is concerned.
“We just emerged from a meeting with the Solicitor-General of the Federation, the representatives of the judiciary, the representatives of the Conference of Speakers, and House of Representatives and we are on all fours. An agreement has been reached.
“First, the issue is about implementation. There has been no objection from governors on judicial and legislative autonomy. As a matter of fact, it would not have passed if governors were not in support in the first instance, in the state assemblies.
“So that issue has been fully and holistically addressed, but we don’t just want to agree to something on paper without working out the modalities for implementation.
“Thankfully, the meeting we have just emerged from, with the Chief of Staff to the President chairing, has worked out the modalities to the satisfaction of all parties.”
Asked when Nigerians should expect to see the implementation taking effect, he said “as soon as the final document that is being cleaned up emerges, that is preparatory to implementation.
“We are not going to put a time-frame in the air, but it will be implemented as soon as possible, definitely no later than the end of May 2021.”
Appealing to striking JUSUN and its members, Dr Fayemi said: “In the interest of the nation, we believe that the striking workers should return to their offices because as far as this has gone, we have met with all the parties concerned.
“The President, through the Chief of Staff, has been insisting on this matter and has been monitoring what has been happening and I think we are basically at a position where whether you speak to the Conference of Speakers’ chairperson or you speak to me or you speak to the representative of the judiciary or you speak to the Solicitor-General of the Federation, you will hear that we are speaking with one voice on the implementation and no later than May, you will start seeing the implementation of the agreement that we have reached.”
Other governors present at the meeting included Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) Chairman, Conference of Speakers of States Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman, Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Dayo Akpata and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang.
Source: VANGUARD
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