Chairman of the Osun State chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, Oluwagbemiga Eludire, talks to BOLA BAMIGBOLA about the recent industrial action embarked upon by members of the union over welfare issues
You mobilised members of JUSUN in the state for a protest on Wednesday. What are the issues in contention?
It is about the working conditions of our members. Over the years, we have been facing a series of challenges and on several occasions, we discussed this with the Chief Judge of the state, but to our surprise, it appears our chief judge does not want to listen to our request and that is why we were left with no other option but to come out and amplify our voices so that the general public will hear us out and possibly come to our aid. One of the requests that I’m referring to is the unlawful suspension of some of our members. Truly, those members I’m referring to might have been involved in some misconduct, but it is expected of the management to bring them before the Judicial Service Commission for necessary investigation and possible disciplinary action.
However, we realised that that was not done because there was no time they were presented before the JSC for such and it was later gathered that it was the unilateral decision of the chief judge and such negates the public service rule. We realised that some of these our members were arraigned before a magistrate and they were discharged and acquitted; but despite that, the chief judge insisted that they must be dismissed. So, they were never reinstated despite the decision of the magistrates’ court and we have been on this matter for quite some time and we know the situation of things in the country. Even people who are receiving full salaries find it difficult to feed their families, let alone people who are on suspension for more than three years without pay. There is a common slogan in the labour world that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’. That is one of the reasons why we are now in solidarity with them.
What were your expectations from the chief judge?
Many of them (affected members) have been summarily dismissed and we thought that with our pleas, the chief judge ought to have taken some decisions by reinstating them, but she refused to do that. Another aspect of our demand is the issue of wardrobe allowance. This was captured in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 budgets, but up till now, the money has not been released to any of our members and we are now asking if the government has released those funds to be paid at least to mitigate the effect of our wardrobe allowances, where are they keeping the money and what are they using it for.
Another similar thing is that of the National Judicial Institute that has been our conventional practice that every year, the management would send some of our members from different categories for training to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency. But in 2015, this was stopped by the chief judge, and we don’t know what they are using the funds released for this purpose by the government for. We have been speaking on these things for quite some time, but it appears that our CJ does not want to do anything and that is part of the reason why we decided to come out in protest.
Some people are saying the agitation has a political undertone and wondering why JUSUN decided to stage a protest now. Is that true?
I must confess to you that there is no political undertone to our actions. The rancour that is going on between the executive, legislature, and judiciary does not really concern us. In the past, they’ve had a good relationship and even during that period, we were not invited into any issue. Why would we now be involved in their matters? In fact, it is not so. You know that before you can come out to confront or challenge the authority, you must have adopted a series of approaches, possibly such issues could be resolved amicably, and as (members of the) judiciary, we detest confrontation and we respect our judges and the sacredness of the judiciary, and that is why we have been trying to see whether these (issues) can be resolved internally. We have taken a series of actions for mediation but all to no avail. We were left with no other option but to do this (protest).
How many of your members are on suspension now?
I can say clearly that five of our members are on suspension on the orders of the chief judge, while some have been summarily dismissed. I’m not even concerned about those who have been dismissed, but I’m concerned about those who were suspended unlawfully without following due process.
The industrial action has paralysed activities in the courts. How long do you intend to continue with the strike?
It is quite unfortunate that such a thing happened because the picketing was mainly targeted at the chief judge, but that place (court) is the seat of power of the CJ and there wouldn’t have been another means to carry out that than for us to lock the entrance, and thank God that the exercise was successful and even the chief judge herself called me, we discussed on the phone and there wasn’t much uproar as regards that. But as it is now, we hope that the action continues and I believe that something drastic will be done to ameliorate the suffering and pain of my members, most especially, those who were unlawfully suspended.
In the conversation you had with the chief judge, did you arrive at any compromise regarding some of your demands?
No, not at all. I was bold enough to tell the chief judge that until our demands were met, the protest would not stop, because I remember the CJ emphatically asked that question and that was my personal statement on that.
How would you describe the level of involvement of your members? Were they all genuinely in support of the strike?
Actually, it was not a strike per se. Outside the headquarters, the outstations were left to carry on with their daily activities, because it was picketing and not a strike. So, we do not expect someone who ought to be at his duty post to come for the picketing, and besides that, our people rallied around us and it was a unanimous agreement of the executive and the entire members.
How best can industrial harmony be restored?
I won’t even mind if they (suspended members) are chastised. I’ve seen some situations where workers, who were found guilty, were penalised but we should not lay them off because of the error they committed. They should consider their immediate families. I want them reinstated and possibly, the issue of the wardrobe allowances should be addressed. If our counterparts in the House of Assembly, who have no specific dress code, are enjoying that privilege and JUSUN (members) in neighbouring states are enjoying such a privilege, why should they be denying us such? On the issue of training, it will enhance efficiency and effectiveness because of the sensitive nature of the work in the judiciary. If they can restore all these things, everything will move on as it should.
I just want my people to remain resolute and be courageous. I believe that with time, everything will become normal and there is hope. Let us just ensure that things are done properly, remain committed to our duties, and discharge them as required by the law.