Judiciary funds must be deducted directly from source by AGF – JUSUN insists

The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) on Thursday insisted that each state must implement its self-accounting law in dealing with Internally Generated Revenue.

JUSUN, in a statement issued by its General Secretary, I. M. Adetola, in Kaduna, said each state should implement its self-accounting law or Fund Management law in dealing with IGR also known as state consolidated fund, in accordance with Section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria as amended.

“The states that have not yes signed the Bill into law should do so without delay”, JUSUN said.

Furthermore, the JUSUN maintained that amount standing to the credit of the judiciary from the monthly federal allocation should be deducted directly from the source by Accountant General of the Federation and remit same to National Judicial Council (NJC) for onward transmission to heads of courts.

“For the Federal Allocation, the Budget of each State Judiciary submitted to the implementation committee (received on Oct. 2, 2020) should be implemented by deducting the amount due to the state judiciary directly from source by Accountant General of the Federation.

“This is in accordance with Section 81(3), Section 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria (as amended) for the states. The Accountant General of the Federation should be directed accordingly”.

The union also said that the implementation requested above should include payment of the arrears from the month of October, 2020.

Nelsdaily reported that JUSUN on April 6, following a directive on its members to shut down all courts across the country, members complied with the directive and mounted guard at the entrance of the courts to ensure that no one entered the court premises.

The action has crippled court proceedings as well as commercial activities around the court premises.

A verdict of the Federal High Court in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, had in January 2014, held that financial autonomy for the judiciary is a constitutional provision that must be complied with by the executive branch of government.