Magistrates begin strike in Nasarawa

Magistrate courts in Lafia and other towns in Nasarawa State were shut down on Wednesday as the state’s chapter of the Magistrates Association of Nigeria (MAN) embarked on an indefinite strike.
Magistrates were seen in groups discussing the strike in many of the courts.
Their association had in a statement issued Wednesday in Lafia and signed by its Public Relations Officer, Habila Abundaga, announced the commencement of the strike action.
The statement also directed all magistrates in the state to down tools indefinitely, with effect from the midnight of 21 August 2012, and urged members to be law-abiding.
It said the strike was as a result of the failure of the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura, to accede to the law officers’ demands.
Similarly, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in the state has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to resolve all the issues raised by the body.
The union announced this in a communiqué signed by Sunday Daniel and Danjuma Yakubu, the Nasarawa State Chapter Vice Chairman and Public Relations Officer, respectively.
It said this was necessary if its members were not to proceed on a strike, alleging that the state Judicial Service Commission (JSC) failed to dialogue with it.
“The commission does not appreciate the place of discussions, negotiation or a bargaining process in resolving labour-related issues in the judiciary,’’ the union said.
Reacting to the magistrates’ strike, the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mohammed Abdullahi, said that government was yet to understand the law officers’ grouse.
He however assured that the state government was still ready to dialogue.
“We are yet to understand the grouse of MAN, when you situate their demands within the context of what are their rights and/or privileges.
“Majority of what they are asking for are privileges within the context of their terms of employment,’’ Abdullahi said.
He said government was acting within the spirit of Section 121 of the 1999 Constitution.
“This means that, at the end of every month, government pays to the head of the judiciary what was due to the judiciary in respect of recurrent expenditure,’’ the Attorney-General said.
He said government had gone to court to get an order restraining MAN from going on strike until the issues raised were determined.