The federal government yesterday directed members of the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to re-open all the courts and the State Houses of Assembly so that the May 20, 2021 Memorandum of Action signed by all parties and further reinforced by another meeting on implementation of timelines on June 4 can take effect.
This was contained in a statement by the deputy director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Charles Akpan.
The statement quoted the minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, as decrying the situation where the courts and the State Houses of Assembly are still shut across the federation for no cogent reasons of non-adherence to the provisions of the May 20 Memorandum of Action which has 45 days’ implementation window.
The statement noted that many governors are desirous that the State Assemblies be opened so that they can enact the laws meant to give effect to the autonomy as enshrined in the MOA “but we have advised all state governors that have consulted with their heads of judiciary and legislature to go ahead and credit the accounts of judiciary and legislature before fine-tuning the laws.”
The statement added that the Ministry will not be happy to be pushed into invoking sections of the Trade Disputes Acts capable of eroding all the gains made so far in the negotiations since May 6, 2021.