Donors and the
international financial institutions are keen for developing countries to adopt
good governance, but few appear to be supporting the current judiciary workers
strike in Nigeria.
The workers in
each of the 36 states were on strike in July last year and again from the
beginning of January this year.
The strike is over the independence of the judiciary and the implementation
of the 1999 Constitution that requires the judiciary to receive its funding
direct from the Federation Account (where all the oil money should be collected).
Although the
constitution of Nigeria provides for an independent judiciary, the
judicial
branch is susceptible to executive pressure, particularly at the state and
local levels. There have
been numerous calls for a more independent judiciary over the years, both from the
judiciary itself and from outside. In 2009, some prominent Supreme Court judges
called for a more independent judiciary.
In January
2014, the Federal High Court ordered the Accountant General of the Federation
to deduct monies intended for the judiciary from the Federation Account and to pay
such sums to the National Judicial Council (NJC) for onward transmission to the
Chief Judge in each state. Since
then judiciary workers at the Federal and state levels have been struggling for
this judgement to be implemented.
Justice
Adeniyi Ademola described the disbursement of funds for the judiciary by the
executive as unconstitutional and a threat to the independence of the
judiciary.
He said the
provisions of sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the Federal Constitution of
Nigeria were clear and straightforward and should therefore be complied with.
According to the
Judge, the judiciary should not longer have to beg the executive for funds. The
Judge noted that both the National Assembly and the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) enjoyed independence of funding and that the same
should apply to the judiciary in accordance with the constitution.
National President
of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Marwan Mustapha Adamu said: “remember
that this judgment was delivered in January 2014, since then, government has
engaged us in discussion about 20 times”.
The Federation
Account Allocation Committee (FACC) of the Federal and state Accountants
General agreed to set up a technical implementation committee at their meeting in
June, 2014, but this has not been implemented.
Marwan
lamented that despite the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed to
ensure the suspension of the judiciary workers strike in July last year, the Accountants
General of the states are insisting that they cannot meet the union’s demands,
due to declining oil revenues.
“So what is
difficult, when the figure is there for everybody to see how much is budgeted,”
Marwan queried. He alleged that since the MoU was signed the union has not been
invited to any meeting to discuss how to implement the court order.
The judiciary
workers and their union, JUSUN finally lost patience and re-commenced their strike
from the beginning of 2015. The
Federal Government has now agreed with JUSUN, as have around a third of the 36
states. However, the strike
continues in the other states that are yet to adopt the constitutional good
governance demanded by the trade union.
In Edo State,
for example, the judiciary workers held a protest in mid-March and marched
through the centre of Benin City to demonstrate their determination to continue
their strike. The previous day the
local JUSUN president, Uyi Ogieriakhi had met with the governor of the
state. However, the governor had
expressed his opposition to the strike and his determination not to provide
greater independence for the state judiciary.
The judiciary
workers are equally determined to continue their fight for good governance and
independence of the courts. In an exclusive interview, Uyi said that their
demands were “sacrosanct in terms of good governance”. At the protest he said the strike would
continue, even for two years, and was loudly cheered by his members.
The donors and
financial institutions talk about good governance, so you would expect them to
be supporting the striking JUSUN workers over their struggle to gain proper
independence for the courts in Nigeria. However, when I asked their local
president, Uyi Ogieriakhi, whether they had received any support from the donor
community, his response was, “Erm, erm,
I do not think that is the case now”.
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