Unpaid salaries force Oyo judiciary workers on strike action, says JUSUN

The Oyo state chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has said that its members went on strike on Tuesday after the Oyo State Governor, Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde failed to pay the July monthly salaries.

JUSUN said the judiciary workers complied with a sit-at-home order issued by the association.

In a statement by the spokesman of the Oyo state chapter of the association, Obafunso Okulaja, he said that the judiciary workers had not received salaries while other state government agencies had their salaries upset on July 25.

Okulaja, who said the resolve by the union to embark on a strike was agreed upon in its congress meeting on Friday, was to repudiate the norm where their salaries have always been delayed since December last year.

“Our members do not have money to come to work so we directed them to sit at home. JUSUN is yet to receive July salary in the state and this delay in salary payment has been like this since December 2021,” the spokesman said.

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“We call on the state government to put us on the priority list as the third arm of the government.

“If the executive and legislative arms are given priority, the judiciary should also be given the same. The sit-at-home will continue until we receive our July salary,” Okulaja added.

The strike action embarked on by the union led to the closure of the gates of Iyaganku magistrates’ court and the state high court.

Also, a worker who pleaded anonymity appealed to the government to salvage the precarious incident because the workers were undergoing hard times.

“We urge the government to urgently do something about it,” he said.

Aside from the magistrate and high courts whose premises are deserted, the gates to the customary court of appeal have also been locked.