Abia State Government Reports Near Resolution of Judiciary Staff Strike

The Abia State Government has announced significant strides towards ending the ongoing strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), signaling a potential resolution to the labor dispute that has disrupted judicial operations. According to Onyebuchi Ememanka, Director-General of the Abia State Strategic Communication Bureau, daily engagements with JUSUN leadership have yielded considerable progress, with most contentious issues now settled.

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I can tell you that the state government has been in daily engagement with the leadership of JUSUN. Even as at yesterday (Wednesday), there have been regular interfaces; meetings have been held, talks are ongoing and, as we speak, we are almost at the point of final resolution of the issues that led to this strike.

Central to the negotiations were the disputes over leave allowance and pensions for retired judiciary staff. Ememanka explained that while the government's position on leave allowance, built into consolidated salaries, was initially questioned, JUSUN's own findings confirmed the government's stance. The primary point of contention involved arrears prior to a 2025 agreement, which the government has agreed to pay, settling the leave bonus issue conclusively. Furthermore, the government affirmed that pension payments are contingent upon verification, a process that has already commenced for retired judiciary workers.

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Our position as a government was that all workers who earn consolidated salaries have a component of leave built into their salaries and, in the course of these negotiations, it was discovered by JUSUN themselves that our position had been correct all along.

Addressing concerns about financial autonomy for the judiciary, Ememanka sought to clarify the practical implementation within Nigeria's federal structure. He emphasized that state governments disburse funds monthly according to budgetary allocations and available resources. The executive arm does not directly pay judiciary staff salaries; instead, the Chief Judge, as the head of the judicial arm, manages these funds based on the judiciary's monthly budget requests. This clarification aims to dispel any misconceptions about the judiciary's financial independence and operational funding mechanisms within the state.

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The only point of divergence was that prior to the 2025 agreement between government and JUSUN, what they were getting was five per cent as their leave bonus, but in the 2025 agreement, what was agreed was 10 per cent, which is what they are actually getting. So they are asking for arrears that were owed before the 2025 agreement. It became clear that leave bonus had always been there for them, and government has said, ‘well, we are prepared to pay the five per cent arrears.’ So the issue of leave bonus has been conclusively settled.