Abuja- Malam Marwan Adamu, the National President of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), say the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has appealed to the union to suspend its ongoing strike.
Adamu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja that JUSUN met with NBA to discuss the way forward on how the issues can be resolved.
He said NBA had been following up on the issue and had been trying to help to make sure that in any way possible the issue was resolved.
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“Since the beginning of the crisis, the NBA has been following up to see how these issues can be resolved and the possibility of the strike being suspended.
“So, we met today (Thursday) to see how the issue can be solved, and they pleaded with us to see if we can suspend the strike.
“Some other things which can be of help in resolving the issues were presented to us. But their position was very clear about the court judgment,’’ the JUSUN national president said.
Adamu however said the union would look into how it could resolve the matter during its forthcoming meeting with Federal Government officials.
He said the outcome of the meeting, which was initially scheduled for Jan.17 but has now been shifted to Jan. 19, would determine if the strike would be suspended.
The union official however said the statement credited to the Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, that the strike was targeted at state governors only was off the mark.
“The union’s attention has been drawn to a statement by the Minister of Justice that the strike is targeted at state governors.
“The minister was quoted as saying that the Federal Government is not in breach of the Constitution and the judgment.
“Of the Federal High Court judgement delivered on Jan. 13, 2014 on financial autonomy of the state judiciary, JUSUN is of the position that the minister is being economical with the truth.
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“This is because the federal court workers also face the same problem faced by the states on deduction at source.’’
Adamu said the minister was a defendant in the judgment of the Federal High Court and had till now refused to file an appeal.
He said the minister as a legal officer of the federation cannot refuse or fail to direct those involved to obey the court judgment.
Adamu said the union might hopefully suspend the strike if agreement on some of the contending factors was reached on Monday, with the necessary evidence.
The union official however assured that the workers body’s doors were still open for negotiations.(NAN)