Ondo judiciary workers begin strike over unpaid salary arrears

Gates to Ondo State high courts were under lock and key yesterday as workers of the state judiciary under the auspices of Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), commenced an indefinite strike action over unpaid salaries and the implementation of financial autonomy for the third arm of government.

Lawyers who were from other states of the federation, who had come to attend to their cases in both the high and magistrate’s courts were disappointed as they met the gates locked by the judicial workers. The prison officials who brought awaiting trial inmates to the courts also turned back as they could not access the court premises.
The workers began the indefinite strike over the alleged failure of the state government to honour an agreement reached on the financial autonomy of judicial arm of government.
The state Chairman of JUSUN, Mr Ilesanmi Dido, said members of the union would no longer allow government to continue to breach the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, which grants financial autonomy to the judiciary.
Dido said the administration of justice had collapsed in the state judiciary due to poor funding and non-payment of over four months salaries of JUSUN members.
The chairman noted that if Governor Olusegun Mimiko had implemented the Memorandum of Understanding on financial autonomy for the judiciary, judges and workers would not have been owed salaries. He said the autonomy would have addressed what he called deplorable court rooms.