Abia State Government (ABSG) has clarified the issues surrounding the ongoing strike action by the state chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), and assured that if the union provides evidence of non payment of Leave Bonus in its consolidated salary, the state government will pay its salaries within 48 hours.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Ikechukwu SAN gave the clarifications and assurances on Thursday at Government House Umuahia, while briefing the press on the JUSUN strike, along side the Commissioner for Information Prince Okey Kanu, and his Labour & Productivity counterpart, SSA on Labour Relations as well as the Accountant General of the state.
Barr. Uwanna recalled that the executive members of the JUSUN had provided a request for payment of leave allowance, of which the office of the Accountant General then requested for the details and how they arrived at the leave allowance, and for them to confirm that they have not earned leave bonuses before now, but they have not provided such details till date.
He explained that the government upon 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 has what is called Leave Bonus, which is also the same thing as the Leave Allowance the union is requesting for.
“So we asked the judiciary to provide us with evidence that there is no component of leave bonus in their salary.
“What we got on the 13th of March was a notice that the government should either pay them or they will proceed on industrial action by midnight on the 15th of March,” Barr. Uwanna stated.
While explaining that the consolidated salary contains everything emolument of the worker, revealed that the JUSUN was requested to provide evidence that its salary does not contain “Leave Bonus”.
He assured that once the union makes available the document and government confirms it to be true, the Judiciary workers would be paid within 48 hours.
“So, at that point, the members of the executive of the Judiciary workers were then requested to provide evidence that their salary, because the state, the Office of the Accountant General, does not have information with regards to what the details of their salary is.
“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. Federal government does not pay for leave allowance to JUSUN members in the nation. That is our finding.
“Just like federal government does not pay leave allowance to, for instance, medical doctor or health workers in the federal civil service because of the consolidated scheme.
“The state government will pay within 48 hours it realises that there is no leave allowance or leave bonus as a component of their consolidated salary,” Barr. Uwanna stated.
The Attorney General equally addressed the issue of verification of the Judiciary staff, disclosing that efforts to get them verified have been continuously frustrated by members of the JUSUN, adding that their refusal to submit themselves to staff verification of workers in the state accounts for non payment of pensioners who were staff of the Judiciary prior to their retirement.
“As you may all recall, at the commencement, His Excellency Dr 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.
“Indeed, on the 15th, that 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 His Excellency 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,” Barr. Uwanna sta
He regretted that the refusal to be verified has affected pensioners who retired from the Judiciary and
called on the union leaders to to call off the strike to enable the pensioners of Judiciary extraction 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 because of time, 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 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. We are all citizens of this state, and the pensioners are entitled to their payment.
“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” Barr. Uwanna stated.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Information, Prince 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.
He however noted that, “this government takes the issue of workers’ welfare very seriously.
“We believe it is high time the government addressed these issues and move forward,” Prince Kanu stated.
According to Commissioner for Information, “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,” hence the need to address the issue properly, emphasising that Governor Alex Otti does not toy with the welfare of Abia workers.
Also, the Accountant General of Abia state, Deaconess Njum Onyemanam reassured the commitment of Abia state government to making payments of staff 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 gets 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.
“The Accountant General does not handle the payroll of the judiciary. Accountant General does not handle the payroll of the judiciary. 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,” Onyemanam explained.
Commissioner for Information Prince Okey Kanu, his Labour & Productivity counterpart Mr Kingsley Nwokocha and the Senior Special Assistant on Labour Relations, Sir Comrade Godson Ańucha were present at the briefing.
E-signed
DIVINE NWANKWO
HOD (INFORMATION)
GOVERNMENT HOUSE UMUAHIA
09 – 04 – 2026.
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