The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), sitting in Ibadan, has scheduled March 4, 2024, to hear the originating summons of legal practitioner Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN) concerning the strike action initiated by the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Osun State chapter.
This strike has disrupted activities in the state judiciary for approximately three months.
Presiding Justice Dele Peters of NICN Court 1 fixed the date after hearing arguments from counsels to the parties in the suit marked NICN/IB/06/2024.
Recall that the Osun State branch of JUSUN commenced an indefinite strike on November 22, 2023, protesting the unjust suspension of five of its members by the Chief Judge of the state.
The strike also addressed issues such as the halt in staff training since 2015, inadequate implementation of staff promotion, advancement and regularization, and non-payment of wardrobe allowances to judiciary workers, among others.
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According to Osun JUSUN, the suspended members had been sidelined for periods extending to 57 months and 46 months, respectively, with all attempts to reinstate them proving futile.
Awomolo, a native of Osun State from Boluwaduro Local Government and former Commissioner for Justice in the state, filed the originating summons on January 30, 2024. Among other reliefs, he seeks:
- A declaration that the 1st and 2nd defendants lacked the authority, through the arbitrary exercise of powers, to declare and sustain an industrial action in the Osun State Judiciary, thereby paralyzing it from November 2023 to January 24, 2024.
- A declaration that the decision of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants to declare, maintain, and condone an industrial action in the Judiciary of Osun State is unconstitutional, null, and void.
- A declaration that the ongoing strike by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants, assisted by members of the 1st defendant in Osun State JUSUN, is illegal and void.
- An order of mandatory injunction compelling the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants to call off the industrial action.
- An order of mandatory injunction compelling the 3rd and 4th defendants to direct all members of the 1st defendant in Osun State to resume and continue their duties in the judiciary.
During the motion to hear the originating summons on Monday, Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN), counsel to Awomolo, stated that the 3rd and 4th respondents had not been properly served. He requested a date to hear the originating summons, assuring that proper service would be completed before then.
However, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), counsel to the 2nd defendant and the immediate past chairman of JUSUN in Osun State, Comrade Kunle Eludire, drew attention to a memorandum of agreement dated February 16, 2024. This agreement, signed by the Osun State government, National Executive Council (NEC), Osun State branch of JUSUN, and Osun State judiciary, contradicts claims that the government refused to sign the agreement to end the strike.
Adetunbi clarified that the Osun State government had fulfilled all resolutions in the agreement, except one that was beyond its purview. He emphasized the government’s cooperation with JUSUN and its efforts to resolve the strike.
The senior advocate also noted that the state government had paid the outstanding salaries of the five staff suspended by the Chief Judge, amounting to N8,623,600.00, till December 2023. Additionally, the government had paid the staff’s wardrobe allowances for the year 2023.
He urged further investigation into the non-payment of Regulation Dress Allowance/Robe Allowance for the years 2021 and 2022, which were budgeted for in the respective years.
Adetunbi asserted that the government had budgeted for these allowances, and an inquiry was needed to ascertain how the allocated funds were utilized.
Adetunbi explained that JUSUN had demanded the reinstatement of the suspended staff, but since they were suspended by the Chief Judge, only the Chief Judge and the Judicial Service Commission had the authority to recall them.
As of the current date, neither the Chief Judge nor the Judicial Service Commission has taken any steps to recall the staff, leading to the continuation of the strike.
