The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) Sunday warned Kaduna state governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai to stay off the affairs of the state judiciary.
The group said an arm of government cannot be an appendage of the other.
National President of JUSUN, Comrade Marwan Mustapha, in a statement described as unacceptable the decision by the state government to put the judiciary under the Head of Civil Service of the state.
Comrade Marwan Mustapha said this is contrary to sections 4,5 and 6 the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which addressed the doctrine of separation of power.
Marwan further said creating or appointing a permanent secretary attached to the state’s head of service to oversee the judiciary, which is an arm of government as enshrined in the constitution, is making mockery of the law of the federation.
JUSUN president said section 318 of the constitution also differentiate between who is a public servant and a civil servant, hence the creation of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for the judiciary.
The union leader lamented that the ugly situation has led to the members of the union in the state being owed salary for over two months.
He called on the Kaduna state government to rescind her decision and release money withheld belonging to the judiciary to avoid industrial dispute.
“The attention of the national secretariat of JUSUN has been drawn to the anomalies going on in Kaduna state, where the state government is moving judiciary as an arm of government to be under the head of civil service of the state.
“We view this as contrary to the doctrine of separation of power, which sections 6,5 and 4 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) captured expressly.
“We therefore call on the state government to without further delay release the withheld funds belonging to the judiciary for the past two months to guarantee industrial harmony in the state.
“For avoidance of doubt, we would not hesitate to pull our members out should this matter not be settled amicably within the shortest time.”
