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From Judex Okoro, Calabar
The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal Parnel 1 sitting in Calabar have been denied access into the High Court Complex due to the on-going industrial action embarked upon by judiciary workers in Cross River state.
In a release made available to newsmen, the Tribunal was to have its inaugural sitting at Moore Road, venue for the Tribunal, today.
But when Daily Sun visited the venue on Wednesday morning the entire Court Complex within Moore Road axis was blocked even as the secretary of the Panel, Akawu Bambur, wasn’t allowed into the premises.
Expressing worry over the Tribunal inability to sit due to the strike, Bambur said: “We had discussed with them (the judiciary workers), that they should allow us to sit, they agreed, but surprisingly today we can’t gain entrance into the venue.
“We will communicate a new date because for today we cannot sit , you can see that everywhere is locked.”
Meanwhile, at exactly 10:24 am on Wednesday morning, our reporter contacted the State Chairman of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) on phone about 3 times, to inquire about the development, but he did not respond.
In a notice signed by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) State Chairman Enya Etorti, some of the reasons for the strike include “implementation of the Constitutional provision of the financial autonomy of the judiciary, payment of the 66 per cent balance, and consolidated judiciary salary structure.
“Staff promotion, creation of conducive working environment,” amongst others and directed all union members to, stay at home starting from May 2, 2023 until their demands are met.”
Source close to the Tribunal however revealed that they are likely to announce another date for the sitting of the Tribunal.
Also speaking, the chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, Calabar branch, Attah Ochinke, expressed surprise that he was with the state chairman of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Enya Etorti, and he didn’t tell him they would locking down the High Court complex supposed to be used by the Tribunal, calling on the state government to attend to the judiciary workers’s demand because the tribunal has a time line.
