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The Abia State Government has said the ongoing industrial action by the Abia State Chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) stemmed from a dispute over payment of leave allowance to the judiciary workers.
The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Ikechukwu Uwanna, disclosed this on Thursday at Government House, Umuahia, while briefing reporters on the JUSUN strike.
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Judiciary workers in Abia State began an indefinite strike on 15 March, accusing the state government of failing to pay them their leave allowance.
‘It’s paid as consolidated salary’
But Mr Uwanna, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, argued that the workers have been receiving the allowance as “leave bonus” which are usually put together as “consolidated” salary.
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“Now, consolidated salary is called consolidated because everything is consolidated into one and paid in different installments.
“Sometimes we also look at what happens in other states. The federal government does not pay for leave allowance to JUSUN members in the nation. That is our finding,” he said.
“Just like the federal government does not pay leave allowance to, for instance, medical doctors or health workers in the federal civil service because of the consolidated scheme.”
The attorney-general urged the workers to suspend the industrial action because what they were agitating for was being paid as part of their consolidated salaries.
He recalled that, upon request by the JUSUN leadership for leave allowance payment, the Office of the Accountant General asked them to confirm that they have not earned leave bonuses before now, but they failed to do so.
The official said the government, after receiving the request, discovered through the Office of the Accountant General that part of the components of the consolidated salary being paid to judiciary workers includes what is called the leave bonus, which is the same as the leave allowance being demanded by the workers.
“So we asked the judiciary to provide us with evidence that there is no component of leave bonus in their salary.
Mr Uwanna challenged the workers to provide verifiable evidence that they have not been receiving leave allowance and that the government would pay them within 48 hours.
“The state government will pay within 48 hours if it realises that there is no leave allowance or leave bonus as a component of their consolidated salary,” he stated.
Verification of judiciary workers in Abia
Mr Uwanna also explained why judiciary workers, unlike others, had not been verified in Abia State.
The attorney-general claimed that efforts to get them verified had been continuously frustrated by members of the JUSUN.
“As you may all recall, at the commencement, Governor Alex Otti was sworn in, he commenced a verification exercise for all civil servants.
“And in view of the fact that we understand that the judiciary is independent, the judiciary staff were not verified when every other staff was verified.
“We then engaged the judiciary for the purpose of getting a consultant that will conduct a verification exercise for the judiciary,” he narrated.
Continuing, the official said: “Indeed, on the 15th of March, the same day that they went on strike, was the day that was finally slated for the commencement of the verification exercise.
“And one wonders, ‘is this a coincidence, or was it a well-orchestrated scheme to continue to earn salaries by ghost workers and persons who have questionable credentials?’
“JUSUN is aware that the governor is one who is always ready and able to pay workers their entitlements, and he has made that claim by paying every other civil servant.”
Mr Uwanna pointed out that the strike has affected the payment of pensioners who were staff of the judiciary prior to their retirement.
The attorney-general called on the union leaders to call off the strike to enable the pensioners of judiciary extraction to get verified and begin to receive their pension.
“JUSUN should allow the judiciary to verify its staff so that those pensioners can be paid.
“We have had a lot of engagement, and time will fail me to explain the process that we have gone through to ensure that there’s proper verification, so that they can come into a system.
“They’re not going to come into the executive system. They are going to come into their own electronic platform. Please, I would implore them, once again, not to continue to suffer these pensioners,” he said.
“So let them call off the strike, so that this verification exercise can be done, and these pensioners can start earning what is due them.”
Otti’s commitment to workers’ welfare
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Information in the state, Okey Kanu, said that the state government was aware of the fact that the JUSUN has been on an industrial action, and it has to do with the issues of welfare of Judiciary Staff.
Mr Kanu explained that the briefing was organised to enable the government to address the welfare dispute with the judiciary workers.
He said the government was committed to tackling the issue.
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“The state government is thinking about the ongoing issues with regards to the industrial action and what steps the government wants to take to ensure that there is harmony within the state civil service,” he stated.
On her part, the Accountant General of Abia State, Njum Uma-Onyemenam, stressed that the state government is committed to paying staff members and pensioners on or before the 28th of every month and emphasised that the need for the judiciary to submit its documents to enable it to get its funds accordingly.
“The only question that we’re asking the judiciary staff today is to provide verifiable proof that they have earned leave allowances that were not paid over the period.
“For the judiciary, they need to provide documentation. They need to submit their documentation and go through the payment process to be able to get their lump sum,” she said.
Mrs Uma-Onyemenam explained that, contrary to claims, she does not handle the payroll of the judiciary workers.
“The judiciary handles their payroll, and when they come up to make their demands, when they come, raise their payment vouchers, and their payment vouchers go through the process of payment, that is the only time the Accountant General has the legal right to make that pay,” she explained.
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately get the comment of the Chairperson of JUSUN in Abia State, Chinedu Ezeh, as he was yet to respond to a text message as of the time of filing this report.
