Politics
We’re making Abia judiciary system to be 21st Century compliant.- Govt
The Abia State government says the ongoing judicial reforms in the state is geared towards making its judiciary system 21st-Century compliant.
The reforms include construction of court buildings across the 17 Local Government Areas, regular payment of salaries and digitizing the Judicial system to enhance justice delivery.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, who dropped this hint while briefing Journalists at Government House, Umuahia, on the outcome of this week’s exco meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti, however, reaffirmed the state government’s resolve to honour the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the State Chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) over lingering issues that made their members embark on strike since January 2025, which paralyzed activities in courts.
Prince Kanu explained that the MoU followed an agreement reached between the State Government and JUSUN to suspend their industrial action, stressing that the Otti-led administration is “irrevocably committed to honouring all the terms of the MOU”.
The Commissioner blamed the delay in payments of the judiciary workers salaries based on the new minimum wage and consolidated adjustments on what he described as, “necessary paperworks for the payments of arrears because of the huge amounts involved.”
He gave his words that the processes were being finalized, and expressed optimism that members of JUSUN would start receiving alerts in their phones before the close of work on Tuesday.
It will be recalled that just last week Thursday, the State Government reached an agreement with JUSUN during which both parties signed an MOU.
Said Kanu: “Those whose mandate it is to effect all the payments agreed upon are working round the clock to do so. I want to reassure JUSUN and members of the public that his Excellency Dr Alex Otti is a man of his words and the same goes for his appointees.
“Of course, we’ve been able to establish the fact that we mean whatever we say, so since these two groups are together, negotiated and came to terms which culminated in the terms and signing of that MoU, I can assure you that maybe later today, when they check their accounts, they will see their alerts”.
Contributing, the Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ikechukwu Uwanna, stated that for the court buildings being erected in the LGA’s, provision has been made to build and equip a High court in a local government area He, like Isuikwuato, with some identified peculiarities.
On the JUSUN issue Uwanna stated that all concerns raised by the Union regarding the New Minimum Wage have been addressed, assuring that the Judicial Staff are expected to begin receiving their salaries, paving way for the industrial action to be called off.
“The agreement we reached with JUSUN is multi- pronged, it is not just based on the payment of the New Minimum Wage which has already been effected.
“Members of the Judiciary last received payment for November 2024. They will receive the rest of the number today.
“So that is to say that the payment process has commenced. To explain some of these things, there’s a bit of bureaucracy around how things happen.
“The agreement we had with JUSUN is that they will resume immediately they receive their payment.
“I believe that by tomorrow, the Judiciary will resume operations “, Uwana said.
Business Hallmark understands that JUSUN is expected to hold its congress immediately to suspend the three-week strike and members to resume duties by Thursday this week
