Judiciary workers under the Supreme Court, National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Federal High Court (FHC) have pulled out of the planned strike due to begin on Monday.
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) had directed its members in all federal courts nationwide and other judicial institutions to withdraw their services from Monday.
In a communique signed by 12 principal officers of the Supreme Court Chapter of JUSUN, led by Comrade Danladi Nda, it said that joining the June 2 strike will amount to misplacement of priority and neglect and will result in exercise in futility.
The apex court workers said that they opted out as a result of cogent and verifiable assurances extracted from the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
They confirmed that the CJN had already visited the presidency and tabled their demands in order to get them resolved fully.
“With the CJN’s commendable efforts, we owe her our unwavering support in order to get the expected allowances and others paid.
“Lower sister courts position on the planned nationwide strike cannot be managed by us in the Supreme Court as it will put the CJN’s efforts in vain, jeopardy and swept under the carpet.
“We pray that our colleagues be calm and allow the efforts of the CJN to achieve meaningful results.”
The communique hinted that the Supreme Court Chapter of JUSUN has commenced discussing with all the federal chapters to see reasons and drop the planned nationwide industrial action for now.
“We urge those insisting to participate in the strike action to be patient and calm and go along with the CJN to achieve deserved result,” the communique said.
‘The CJN had obtained concrete assurances from the various federal government agencies she discussed the issue with and that everything would be resolved soon, which makes the call for strike unnecessary for now.”
NJC had, in a statement by Mr Joel Ebiloma, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), JUSUN NJC Chapter, hinted that a two-week grace was granted the authorities concerned to enable them to put their house in order to meet their demands.
The union said that the strike was put on hold to allow relevant stakeholders engage necessary authorities.
It is to ensure that the Accountant General of the Federation released the statutory allocations to the Judiciary based on the 2025 Appropriation in which the arrears of the Wage Award, minimum wage, and the 25 per cent and 35 per cent salary increase have been captured. (NAN)