Some Governors Renege On Agreement With JUSUN As Deadline Has Passed Without Enacting Judicial Autonomy Law

*NJC committee writes state CJs, demands implementation status

About 56 days after the Governors of states signed an agreement for the implementation of the contentious financial autonomy, no fewer than 26 states are yet to enact laws for the implementation of the financial autonomy for the state legislatures and judiciaries.

Recall that the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, had embarked on an indefinite strike which led to the closure of Courts from April 6, 2021 to June 14, 2021.

JUSUN demanded amongst other things, financial autonomy for the judiciary in the light of Sections 81 and 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and decisions of Federal High Courts to the effect that all funds due to the judiciary from the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall be paid directly to the Heads of the Courts concerned. A subsequent Executive Order was issued by President Muhammadu Buhari “Implementation of financial Autonomy of States Legislature and State Judiciary” on 20th May 2020, yet some State Governors failed to implement this fundamental provision of the Law.

The JUSUN strike was later suspended effective from June 14 pending the 45 days timeline for the implementation of the agreement they entered with the Nigerian Governors’ Forum

Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) and Ekiti State Governor, Fayemi and his deputy, Governor of Sokoto State, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal had put their pen on paper on behalf of the 36 state governors on the historic agreement reached on May 20, to bring to an end a two-month industrial action embarked upon by JUSUN and PASAN.

The agreement, which was prepared on May 20 but signed on June 5, stipulates that all the states shall enact laws for the implementation of the financial autonomy of their judiciaries and legislatures, within 45 days of the signing of the agreement.

Investigation by This Day Newspaper revealed that Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, as well as Governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and Ben Ayade of Cross River State have signed the bills, for the implementation of the financial autonomy of the two arms of government.

However, the Houses of Assemblies of the following states have passed the relevant bills but the governors of the affected states have not assented to these bills for implementation. The states are Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Benue, Niger, Kebbi, Kwara, Taraba, Nasarawa, and Akwa Ibom.

Edo, Kaduna, Kano, and Imo on the other hand have not even prepared the bills, the bills are at various stages at their respective Houses of Assemblies.

The Deputy President of JUSUN, Mr. Emmanuel Abisoye, said the 45 days had expired with only a few states enacting the laws. He, however, said that none of the states has implemented the financial autonomy fully as agreed by the parties.

He said, “We are going to meet to review the situation after we must have received the feedback from the National Judicial Council (NJC) on the status of implementation of the financial autonomy agreement.”

He added, “As I speak to you now, not every state has passed that Bill into law – the law that will establish the Fund Management Committee, which is to handle the disbursement of revenue accruing to the state to the various arms of government.

“Only a few states have done that. So, we are still gathering the information on the number of states that have complied with that. While in some of the states, the Bill is at the stage of passage by the State House of Assembly but not yet signed into law, a state like Ekiti has signed the bill into law,” he said.

The JUSUN further explained that the union is presently waiting to get the report of the NJC’s monitoring committee before it can decide on the next line of action.

He said, “As of now, the NJC has written letters to all the state Chief Judges (CJs) and copied the state chairmen of JUSUN. The content of the letter is that they should furnish the NJC with information on the progress being made by the respective states on the implementation of the financial autonomy agreement.”

The five-member committee appointed by the NJC to ensure that the governors did not renege on the agreement includes President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olumide Akpata; a retired Justice of the Supreme Court and Emir of Lafia in Nasarawa State, Justice Sidi Bage (Chairman); President of the National Industrial Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip; Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Onuoha Ogwe; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Muiz Banire.

The committee, which was set up by the National Judicial Council (NJC) following the expiration of the 45-day deadline to monitor the implementation, has written the 36 state Chief Judges (CJs) demanding the status of implementation in their respective states.