Court proceedings in some states of the federation have been put on hold as judiciary workers commenced an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday, June 2 following a directive issued late Sunday by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

gathered on Monday that many courts across Nigeria from Lagos to Oyo as well as  the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, were shut down, bringing judicial activities to a halt nationwide.

The strike was triggered by the federal government’s failure to address several demands, including the payment of five months’ wage award arrears, implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage, and the 25/35 per cent salary increase for workers under the consolidated public service salary structure.

These grievances were outlined in a circular sent to all chapter chairmen, signed by JUSUN’s acting General Secretary, Mr M.J. Akwashiki.

However, not all courts are non-operational as the Supreme Court, the Federal High Court, and the National Judicial Council (NJC) have opted out of the strike, citing the intervention of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.

In separate statements on Sunday, these federal courts noted that cogent and verifiable assurances from the CJN, following a closed-door meeting, prompted their decision to abstain from the strike.

Signed by 12 principal officers of the Supreme Court chapter of JUSUN, including Chairman Danladi Isa, the communiqué described joining the strike as a “misplacement of priorities” that would undermine the CJN’s efforts.

“With the CJN’s commendable efforts, we owe her our unwavering support to ensure the payment of expected allowances and other benefits,” it stated.

The communiqué added, “The stance of lower courts on the planned nationwide strike cannot be managed by us in the Supreme Court, as it risks jeopardising the CJN’s efforts and rendering them ineffective.

“We urge our colleagues to remain calm and allow the CJN’s initiatives to achieve meaningful results.”

The Supreme Court chapter of JUSUN also noted that discussions had commenced with other federal chapters to encourage a reconsideration of the strike action.

However, Mr Akwashiki explained that the strike proceeded after a series of failed negotiations, including meetings convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment aimed at resolving the issues.

“This is to direct all Federal Chapters that effective from midnight Sunday, 1st June 2025, you are to stay at home. This directive follows unfruitful meetings in the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment who was conciliating on our matter,” the circular stated.

The Founding Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of PalmPay, Ms Sofia Zab, has lauded the neobank’s ranking as the second fastest-growing financial services company in the Financial Times’ Fastest-Growing Companies in Africa 2025 list, compiled in collaboration with Statista.

The fintech platform, focused on emerging markets, was ranked in the second position out of a list of 130 firms. PalmPay is one of the six Nigerian companies on the list.

The annual ranking evaluates Africa-based businesses based on key performance indicators such as revenue growth, user adoption, and operational scale.

From 2020 to 2023, PalmPay achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 583.6 per cent – a result of scaling tech-enabled financial services in Nigeria.

“The Financial Times’ recognition of PalmPay as Africa’s fastest-growing fintech is a powerful validation of our approach to closing financial access gaps in underserved markets”, said noted Ms Zab, adding that, “We’ve combined cutting-edge technology with localised innovation and distribution to build a leading neobank used by tens of millions to access payments, credit, savings, insurance and more. As we expand our ecosystem and enter more markets, we’re excited to continue supporting our users to achieve their financial goals, while accelerating growth for our partners.”

Since launching in Nigeria in 2019 under a Mobile Money Operator license, the platform has grown to over 35 million app users. As of 2025, the neobank processes 15 million transactions daily.

Its product suite includes money transfers, merchant payments, credit, savings and investment products, micro-insurance, and business tools for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

PalmPay, which currently operates in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Bangladesh, also provides business-to-business (B2B) payment services to streamline collections and disbursements to local and international merchants targeting African consumers.

“Our growth is propelled by a clear vision: to empower businesses and individuals with frictionless, reliable financial tools”, said Mr Jiapei Yan, Group Chief Commercial Officer at PalmPay.

“We’re deepening partnerships across the fintech ecosystem to enhance payment infrastructure and foster a more connected African economy. As we scale, we remain focused on accessibility, innovation, and regional collaboration to drive the growth of digital economies in emerging markets,” he added.

To address shrinking workforces and rising client expectations, Salesforce has introduced a platform known as Agentforce for Financial Services.

It is embedded with role-based AI agent templates that automate front-office tasks and reduce administrative overhead with no coding required.

Agentforce operates autonomously using industry-specific data, workflows, and policies to deliver intelligent actions that align with firm standards and regulatory requirements

“AI shouldn’t replace the human connection, it should scale it. With Agentforce for Financial Services, financial institutions can tap into digital labor built on a deeply unified platform to help their human teams boost productivity, efficiency, and revenue while still delivering the trusted, personalized experiences their clients expect,” the SVP and GM for Financial Services at Salesforce, Eran Agrios, stated.

Agentforce is grounded in a firm’s data, workflows, and compliance controls so every action conforms with internal policies and regulatory requirements; and because Agentforce is natively embedded in the Financial Services Cloud, human and digital workers can operate from the same deeply unified platform in a way that feels intuitive and trustworthy.

The platform can help banking and insurance service agents handling routine service requests like reversing a fee, canceling a credit card, or explaining insurance coverage options to focus on complex cases that require a human touch.

Each pre-built Agentforce template includes Topics which guide agent behaviour and Actions that give agents the ability to take action specific to financial services jobs.

Firms can customize and expand these agents with Agentforce to reflect their specific processes, guardrails, policies, and service models — all within a declarative, no-code environment.

In addition, Embedded Compliance Controls help ensure digital workers follow the same regulatory guardrails as human teams. Agentforce operates within the compliance framework of Financial Services Cloud, enforcing rules for approvals, disclosures, and audit trails across common workflows like servicing, lending, and client onboarding. Every action is tracked and governed, helping firms meet regulatory obligations with greater consistency and transparency.

By offloading time-consuming work like meeting prep, quoting, and service resolution, Agentforce for Financial Services increases firms’ capacity for tailored experiences without hiring additional staff. And, it helps to ensure every interaction aligns with firm policies and regulatory requirements, maintaining consistency and trust.