TheCable

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, has threatened to stop the salaries of judiciary workers in the state if they do not call off their strike by the end of May.

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) had, on April 8, embarked on a strike in protest of the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.

The strike has paralysed activities in courts across the country.

In a statement on Tuesday by Kelvin Ebiri, Wike’s special assistant on media, the governor said there is no basis for the state chapter of JUSUN to have joined the strike, as the issues in contention do not apply to Rivers where the judiciary “enjoys financial autonomy”.

According to the statement, Wike said if the union fails to call off its strike soon, the state “would have no option but to implement the prevailing law on no work, no pay”.

“We would therefore neither set up any new implementation committee because it’s simply unnecessary, nor allow the state’s judiciary to submit its budget directly to the State House of Assembly in breach of extant fiscal policies and regulations that regulate the State’s budgeting process,” Wike added.

In April, Wike had asked the judiciary workers to call off the strike in the interest of residents of the state.

However, while the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed its readiness to address the issues raised by JUSUN, the union has asked the federal government to direct the attorney-general of the federation to pay allocations directly to state judiciaries.