The fate of the suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, continued to hang in the balance on Monday as the indefinite strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria stalled the scheduled judgment. A group of human rights lawyers had asked an Abuja Federal High Court to compel President Goodluck Jonathan to recall Salami.
The FHC and other courts in the Federal Capital Territory, did not open for business as officials of the union barricaded their gates and prevented workers and members of the public from gaining entrance to the premises.
JUSUN had in a statement in Abuja on Friday directed all federal judiciary workers to begin the indefinite strike on Monday to press for the implementation of the Consolidated Salary Structure for Judiciary workers.
The statement was jointly signed by JUSUN National President, Marwan Mustapha, and General Secretary, Mr. Issah Adetola.
The union had on February 5, 2013 given a 21-day strike notice to the Federal Government over the non-implementation of the salary structure, otherwise known as CONJUSS.
The statement had read in part, “In view of the non-compliance with the ultimatum issued, the special emergency national delegates conference in session hereby directs that all federal courts be shut down indefinitely with effect from Monday, 11 March 2013.”
Lawyers and others, who had cases, or came to file cases or engage in other businesses at the various courts in the FCT were frustrated by the strike.
However, a sensitisation seminar organised for judges by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation at the Abuja FHC held but amid hitches caused by the absence of court workers .
A mild drama however played out when a convoy of vehicles conveying some judges were initially refused entry into the premises of the court.
The gate was eventually reopened by the union leaders who had taken possession of the keys.
The gate was subsequently locked behind the judges.
Apart from the scheduled judgment in the Salami suit, another prominent matter that could not come up was the ruling on the bail application by the convicted pension thief, Mr. John Yusuf.
Before Monday’s development, there were high expectations that a major breakthrough would be recorded in the Salami case through the judgment of the Abuja FHC, presided over by Justice Adamu Bello.
Salami was suspended by the NJC on August 18, 2011, after a face-off with then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu (retd). But after agreeing to reinstate him in May 2012, the council forwarded a recommendation to that effect to President Goodluck Jonathan, who did not act on it on the grounds that the matter was sub-judice.
But in Lagos, there was confusion over the actual reason for the failure of judges of the Federal High Court to sit.
Among the cases stalled by the development was the trial of a former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, who was re-arraigned for the third time on account of alleged money laundering.
It was learnt that the development might not be unconnected with either an ongoing judges conference in Abuja or the industrial action by judicial workers.
The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria had last Friday directed all its members to proceed on an indefinite strike over the non-implementation of the Consolidated Salary Structure for judicial workers.
Apart from workers in the Federal High Courts, those of the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and the National Industrial Courts ought to comply with the strike directive.
But the Deputy Chief Registrar, Federal High Court, Lagos, Bello Okandeji, said he did not receive any directive from the union asking its members to embark on an industrial action.
“I have not seen any notice that we should go on strike. We are still working. The moment they say this is the instruction, we would comply,” Okandeji said.
However, the judicial workers at the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court might have shunned the directive as they were at their duty posts on Monday.
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