BREAKING: Court Dismisses JUSUN’s Suit Seeking To Freeze Edo Govt Account

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, dismissed a suit seeking an order freezing accounts belonging to the Edo State government.

The ex parte application was brought by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) over alleged delayed payment of salaries and entitlements of its members in the state.

JUSUN had approached the court alleging that the Godwin Obaseki’s administration had deliberately failed to pay its members their salaries and entitlement spanning several months.

BIGPEN reports that JUSUN, among other things had asked the court to freeze Edo state Government account attached to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

In his ruling on the application seeking enforcement of an Abuja High Court decision on the autonomy of State Judiciaries, particularly as regards pay, Justice Okon Abang declared the suit as lacking in merit.

He deemed the application to freeze the State’s accounts as vague for failing to state how much the Union members are being owed, noting that the timing of same on the eve of a major election was as a deliberate attempt to cripple governance.

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On the decision of 13 January 2014, Justice Abang maintained it was hinged on the right of JUSUN without actually stating what their entitlements are, adding it was therefore the duty of their lawyer to state specifics, which he failed to do.

The case has been adjourned till 30 September, for hearing of the lawsuit against 35 other State governors and their attorneys general.

It would be recalled that a Federal High Court in Abuja had earlier in 13th January 2014, ruled in favour of financial autonomy for the Judiciary but the judgement was yet to be implemented or appealed by the State governors.