Judiciary workers under the Supreme Court, National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Federal High Court (FHC) have pulled out of the planned strike due to begin on Monday.
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) had directed its members in all federal courts nationwide and other judicial institutions to withdraw their services from Monday.
A communique signed by 12 principal officers of the Supreme Court chapter of JUSUN, led by Danladi Nda, said that joining the June 2 strike would amount to misplacement of priority and neglect and would result in an exercise in futility.
The apex court workers noted that they opted out as a result of cogent and verifiable assurances extracted from the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
They confirmed that the CJN had already visited the presidency and tabled their demands to get them resolved fully.
“Lower sister courts’ position on the planned nationwide strike cannot be managed by us in the Supreme Court as it will put the CJN’s 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 principal officers said.
The communique hinted that the Supreme Court chapter of JUSUN has commenced discussions with all the federal chapters to see the 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 a deserved result”, the communique said.
NJC, in a statement by Joel Ebiloma, the public relations officer (PRO) of the JUSUN NJC chapter, had hinted that a two-week grace period was granted to the concerned authorities to enable them to put their house in order and meet their demands.
The union said the strike was put on hold to allow relevant stakeholders to engage the necessary authorities.
It is to ensure that the Accountant-General of the Federation releases the statutory allocations to the Judiciary based on the 2025 Appropriation, in which the arrears of the Wage Award, minimum wage, and the 25 per cent and 35 per cent salary increase have been captured.
