To end the protracted strike by the state chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has set up a seven-man committee to resolve the industrial dispute.
The spokesperson to the governor, Mallam Olawale Rasheed who disclosed this to journalists, said the governor is sending a briefing letter to the attorney- general of the federation and minister of justice and the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) for support to resolve the industrial dispute.
The governor in the letters briefed the top judicial officials on his efforts so far to get the crisis resolved despite the fact that the bone of contention is pure judicial staff matters.
The committee led by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Hon Teslim Igbalaye, is to find a lasting solution to the crisis within the judiciary within seven days, the governor further directed.
The new intervention by Adeleke followed his previous efforts, which included the payment of withheld salaries of some judicial staff, negotiation on wardrobe allowances and the recent hosting of the national leadership of the judicial staff union.
Adeleke said he is setting up the committee with a direct mandate to get this dispute resolved whatever it will take, noting that his action is to restore normalcy and not to interfere in the judicial arm of government.
“We are being careful all along not to be accused of meddling in judicial matters. But it is now almost an emergency. We must get the issues ironed out.
“I told the national leadership of JUSUN to mediate. I am also reaching out to the Attorney General and the Chief Justice. We need to get our courts running for regular dispensation of justice”, the Governor was quoted as saying in release by his spokesperson.