Workers of the Supreme Court of Nigeria have pulled out of the January 2 industrial strike called by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), citing the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
The workers of the apex court said they opted to decline participation in the strike as a result of cogent and verifiable assurances extracted from the CJN after a closed door meeting.
This is as workers of the National Judicial Council, NJC and those at the Federal High Court, FHC, have also resolved not to go ahead with the strike.
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 put their house in order to meet their demands.
The statement further said that the strike was put on hold to allow relevant stakeholders engage necessary authorities 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%/35% salary increase have been captured.
However, the Supreme Court in a communique issued at the end of its meeting said the workers came to the conclusion of not joining the industrial action after assessment of issues and struggle of the CJN to get their demands met.
The communique confirmed that the CJN had already visited the Presidency and tabled their demands in order to get them resolved fully.
The communique signed by 12 principal officers of the Supreme Court Chapter of JUSUN led by the Chairman, Comrade Danladi Nda said that joining the June 2 strike will amount to misplacement of priority and neglect and will result in exercise in futility,
“With CJN 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 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 reason 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.
According to some credible sources, 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.
