Weeks after the nationwide strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, a member of the red chamber has weighed in in the supposed stand-off between members of the union and governors across the country.
The Senate asked the governors of the 36 states to implement full autonomy for the judiciary, saying that it is non-negotiable.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, stated this while reacting to the protest staged at the National Assembly by the Nigerian Bar Association on the issue.
The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) is currently on strike recently to protest the government’s failure to implement autonomy for the judiciary.
Bamidele said an independent judiciary is needed for true democracy in Nigeria, adding that no one stands to lose anything with such in place.
He, therefore, wondered why the governors are reluctant to endorse the autonomy which had been approved by the national assembly at the federal level.
“Nobody stands to lose anything by granting independence to judiciary at the state level since it has been done at the national level,” he said.
“We are hereby calling on the state governors to do the needful because the independence of the judiciary is non-negotiable.
“No democracy can survive without being founded on the rule of law and independent judiciary.”
Bamidele said state houses of assembly must do “what they are supposed to do” and enact a law for the judiciary to be fully autonomous.
“The national assembly does not make laws for the states; such power resides in the state houses of assembly,” he said.
“Judiciary at the federal capital territory is independent because we have done what we are supposed to do.
“What is next is for the state houses of assembly to do what they are supposed to do.”
In May 2020, the president signed the executive order 10 which granted financial autonomy to the legislature and judiciary across the states to enhance their performance.
The governors, however , have been dawddling on the implementation of the autonomy for the judiciary.
Speaking on behalf of other governor’s, Simon Lalong the governor of Plateau State, said the governors are against the Executive Order noting that they’re not carried along.
He, however , said that the governors are not against granting financial autonomy to the Judiciary
They said efforts are in place to work out a framework for the implementation of the autonomy for both the state legislature and judiciary.
