Mohammed Adoke, the minister of justice and attorney general of the federation, says the Federal Government cannot interfere in constitutional matters of the states.
Adoke was quoted in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja as saying that the Nigerian federal structure constrained the Federal Government from interfering in the constitutional matters of the states.
The statement was signed by the director of information of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Charles Nwodo.
Adoke said this was the reason why the Federal Government could not intervene and end the strike embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).
“We call on Nigerians to appreciate the dynamics of the federal structure that Nigeria operates and the constitutional limits of the Federal Government when dealing with the states,’’ he said.
According to him, with respect to matters within their constitutional mandates, there are limitations for the Federal Government.
The minister said that the Federal Government was not in breach of the court judgment given in favour of JUSUN.
According to the minister, the federal courts are on strike only in solidarity with the states.
“The Federal Government is not in breach or violation of the aforementioned judgment of the Federal High Court.
“This much has been publicly acknowledged by JUSUN in all their statements and deliberations.
“The strike is actually directed at state governments that are yet to comply with the judgment and the federal courts are thus only on sympathy strike with their state counterparts,’’ he said.
The minister said, notwithstanding, the Federal Government was exploring all possible measures to bring the strike to an end.
“The supervising minister of labour and productivity has been working assiduously with relevant stakeholders to resolve all the challenges that may have militated against the implementation of the court judgment.”
According to Adoke, the Federal Government acknowledges the imperative of an efficient and effective judiciary to our democratic consolidation and it is working to ensure full implementation of the judgment.
He said the strike was unfortunate because it had crippled activities of the judiciary throughout the federation and appealed to Nigerians to understand the constraints of the Federal Government.
It would be recalled that JUSUN embarked on the strike on January 2 for the implementation of the Federal High Court judgment delivered on January 13, 2014.
The court had ordered that the amount standing to the credit of the states’ judiciary in the Federation/Consolidated Revenue Fund be paid directly to the heads of courts in the states’ judiciary. (NAN)
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