Court workers in Rivers State on Tuesday locked the gates of the judiciary complex in Port Harcourt as part of actions to execute a nationwide strike called by the Judiciary Staff union of Nigeria, JUSUN that called out its members on strike to demand the implementation of Presidential Executive Order authorizing financial autonomy for state judiciaries.
The workers took position at the gate of the state judicatory complex dancing and singing while barricading the gates of the complex. They prevented litigants and other people that had business to do at the high court from entering.
Reports had it that the courts in other judicial divisions in the state were also shut by workers.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last May signed an Executive Order granting financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary in the states.
The executive order made it mandatory for states to include the allocations of both the legislature and the judiciary in the first-line charge of their budgets.
The order also mandated the accountant-general of the federation to deduct from source amount due to the state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state, for states that refuse to grant such autonomy.
JUSUN on April 3 issued a circular ordering the closure of courts across the country from April 6, as a measure to ensure implementation of the order.
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