Courts reopen after strike

JUSUN had embarked on the strike July 11, seeking the implementation of an order made by a Federal High Court in Abuja for financial autonomy of the judiciary is provided for in accordance with sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution.
At the various courts in Abuja such as the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, Federal High Court, FCT High Court, Judicial Service Committee, Customary Court of Appeal, Sharia Court of Appeal and National Industrial Court, staffs were busy going about their duties.
A staff, who spoke under anonymity, expressed satisfaction with the strike saying it is important in the development of the judiciary. He prayed for the early resolution of the issues that led to the strike.
“Though it is vacation time in the judiciary but the vacation judges can now commence sitting,” the staff said.
Joseph Onu, a legal practitioner said the said the strike has delayed their pending cases and robbed many lawyers of new briefs.
Another lawyer, Abel Ozioko, said the strike would have been more costly for counsels and litigants if it did not fall into the vacation time.
“We are lucky it happened during vacation. If not it would have been disastrous. Those of us who are litigation-based lawyers would have found it difficult to survive,” he said.