Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, on Tuesday, shut down the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
JUSUN officials also barred staff from offices, court rooms and premises of the court around 09am.
The union was enforcing an indefinite nationwide strike action embarked upon by its members on Tuesday (today).
The Judiciary workers also sealed some of the offices and pasted strike notices on their entrances.
Last Thursday, JUSUN had declared an indefinite nationwide strike over its demand for financial autonomy for the judiciary.
On March 13, 2021, the union had at its national executive meeting in Abuja issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government.
In a circular dated April 1, 2021, the union had told its members to shut down courts across the country from Tuesday, April 6.
The circular issued by JUSUN General Secretary, Isaiah Adetola, partly read, “Therefore, as a result of the public holiday on April 5, 2021, the strike action has been postponed to Tuesday, April 6, 2021. You are directed to shut down courts/departments in your states until further notice from the National Secretariat of JUSUN in Abuja.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had on May 22, 2020, signed into law an Executive Order granting financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary across the 36 states of the federation.
The Executive Order No. 10 of 2020, makes it mandatory for all states to include the allocations of both the legislature and the judiciary in the first-line charge of their budgets.
The order also mandates the accountant-general of the federation to deduct from source amount due to the state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state, for states that refuse to grant such autonomy.