President of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu spoke on struggle for financial autonomy of the judiciary and a pension board for the arm of government. Excerpts.
Capital projects fund release
The Federal Government’s slow pace of releasing funds for capital projects in both federal and state governments for the judiciary is alarming. This, to me, is not good for the judiciary. We believe that things should be done the right way. How do you expect people to get justice in a place that is not conducive or a place that is dilapidated? Also, how can a courtroom where infrastructures are not in place dispense justice without bias? So, the government should ensure prompt release of funds meant for capital projects to avoid situations where many things that need to be done would be left unattended to.
READ
https://peoplereporters.com/jusun-put-members-on-red-alert-over-nasarawa/
On the proposed Judiciary Pension Board
The proposed Judiciary Pension Board would take away the hardship judiciary retirees go through after retirement. And this is simply in adherence to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The constitution provides for separation of power. Besides, we are not employees of the Civil Service Commission but employed by the Judicial Service Commission at both the state and at the federal levels. So, why should a different agency work on pension issues for the judiciary? For instance, you were employed and everything that has to do with my carrier progression is done, after retirement, you will then push me to a different organ of government to prepare my retirement benefits. This to me is not good for the system. That is the reason why we are proposing for the Judiciary Pension Board which should handle all pension affairs for judiciary retirees in the country.
What we are saying is that, if the military, police, and the other Para-military agencies under the Executive arm have their pension commission, why must the judiciary which is a different arm of government is subjected to torture after retirement? This is not correct, it is an aberration.
For an independent arm of government under Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution not having its own pension Board is worrisome. Also, more painful is for instance, if a judge delivered a judgment against a civil servant, after retirement that same judge file now comes before this particular civil servant to work on his pension benefits. How do you expect proper thing to be done? So, it is better to have a pension board for the judiciary to tackle their issues within rather than other people handling it.
READ
https://peoplereporters.com/prison-decongestion-require-holistic-approach/
Welfare of members
The welfare of our members is paramount, and this not peculiar to salaries alone. Having a conducive working environment, allowances, promotion, advancement, and others also form part of this welfare. We commend the Chief Justice of Nigeria for his stance on career progression. He made it clear that the judiciary is not for lawyers alone but also for non-lawyers. It is sad that non-lawyers with relevant qualifications can only rise to become a director while the lawyers can get to the position of a Chief Registrar and even if that is allowed, why must you say heads of Federal Judicial Service Commission and Judicial Service Commission must also be a lawyer? So, the issue of the welfare of our members is paramount.
Housing
We are also working tirelessly to ensure that our members get affordable houses. We have already approached the Federal Capital Territory Administration for land in that regard, and we have fulfilled all the necessary requirements. We also want to thank God for the assurance of the Chief Justice of Nigeria to intervene by ensuring that the proper thing is done for us to get the land for development.
Most of us are contributing to federal mortgage banks but are not benefitting from the housing schemes. So, our resolve is that all our members get affordable housing which we are sure would reduce the burden on them. We are also working on a transport system for our members who are not car owners to transport them from office to their houses and back each day. The idea is to ensure that our members are productive.
READ
https://peoplereporters.com/13m-we-initially-did-not-want-it-public-comr-marwan/
Judiciary autonomy
I cannot give details on what we are doing on autonomy. The reason is there are committees working day and night and all I can assure our members is that the financial autonomy of the judiciary will see the light of the day. It is true that financial autonomy is not a new thing it is enshrining in the 1999 Constitution as amended both by Section 81(3), 84, 121(3) and Section 162 (9) deal primary with the issue of autonomy for the judiciary, coupled with the judgment of the Federal High Court which we obtained after we approached the court for interpretation of the sections above.
What we lack is the political will to implement because a lot was done to frustrate all our efforts by the executive. Without any contribution, the present government at the centre is doing its best to ensure that confidence is restored, and with what is going on now, I assured our members that the issue of financial autonomy will be realised. No amount of intimidation, blackmail, but we will follow it to the logical conclusion and by the grace of God, achieve that.
READ
https://peoplereporters.com/jusun-hails-buhari-over-executive-order-10/
Minimum wage
Well, I am not in a position to make a categorical statement on the issue of the minimum wage, but certainly, I am convinced as a member of the Central Working Committee (CWC), member of the National Executive Council (NEC), and I am in touch with NLC leadership, I have no iota of doubt that the issue of the minimum wage would see the light of the day.
Even though there are comments for or against, but that could be because of politics, and in everything, you should expect politicking. I have confidence in the labour team in the negotiation and even those governors that made such comments generating heat did not disown the committee because they are members.
So, I think what the governors are doing is to use it to attract more funds to their respective states. They are not against an increase in workers’ salaries because if they are, they won’t even accept the appointment into the committee in the first place.
READ
https://peoplereporters.com/strike-judiciary-workers-reject-stiffer-conditions-for-reinstatement-of-members/