Following the strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Tuesday declared full autonomy to the state judiciary.
JUSUN members embarked on the nationwide ongoing strike on April 6 to demand for the judiciary’s financial freedom from the executive, particularly at the state level.
The union insisted that they will only end the strike if all the state judiciaries’ funds for October 2020 till May 2021 must be deducted directly from the federation account, and paid to the heads of courts through the NJC as prescribed by the constitution.
However, Okowa said the judiciary’s autonomy, which he pronounced is a follow up to his signing of the Judiciary Autonomy law in January 2021.
The Chief Judge of Delta State has therefore, been asked to head committees that will begin the process of implementing full autonomy for the state judiciary.
“Earlier today, at a meeting with the Chief Judge of Delta State, Justice Marshal Umukoro, and other judges in the state’s judiciary, I was pleased to announce that in line with the law, Delta State’s Judiciary has been accorded full autonomy,” Okowa tweeted.
“As we work to improve our democratic processes across the board, we are proud that Delta State now has both a legislature and judiciary that are fully autonomous,” Okowa added.
