Abuja — The judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Niger State chapter on Thursday suspended its three-week industrial action following a memorandum of understanding between the state government and the union.Speaking at the signing of the agreement, the state Attorney- General and Commissioner of Justice, Adamu Usman, said this became necessary so as to avert further industrial dispute in the sector which, according to him, can disrupt justice system in the state.He said the workers had been agitating for an enhanced condition of service for a long time, adding that effective from January 2010, government had agreed to pay the workers the new condition of service of N16,698 as minimum wage and N115,753.14 for both magistrate, Sharia court judges and state council.

The commissioner added that to ensure the implementation, the state government had directed the Department of Budget and Planning of the Ministry of Finance to capture the new salary structure in the 2010 budget."JUSUN had agreed with the government to accept the sum of N16, 698 as minimum wage for its members as contained in Annexture 11 of the recommended report of the Body of Chief Judges for its members."In consideration of the foregoing, the members of JUSUN Niger State had agreed to call off their indefinite strike and had urged all judicial staff in Niger State to resume work immediately."The agreement was signed by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Adamu Usman in the presence of the Secretary, Judicial Service Sommission, Niger state, Mrs. Halima I.

Abdulmalik and Mrs. Comfort Mohammed, chairperson, Niger State JUSUN in the presence of Marwan Mustapha, the National publicity secretary of JUSUN.Niger State is the first state in the North-central that had complied with the directive letter CONJUSS sent to them by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi.Meanwhile, the Chairman of JUSUN in Nasarawa State, Comrade Jimoh Musa Alonge, has described as unfortunate statements by some government representatives that the ongoing nationwide strike action by the union is a national matter, adding that it is a state matter with a directive by the national headquarters.Comrade Jimoh who spoke to LEADERSHIP on telephone said the matter cannot be a national strike because "we are running federalism."