The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has filed an appeal to challenge the ruling of Justice Polycarp Hamman of the National Industrial Court (NIC) Abuja, which ordered the lecturers to return to the classroom.
Counsel to ASUU, Femi Falana, SAN, premised the appeal on 14 grounds.
The motion is seeking two reliefs which are:
The leave to file the appeal pursuant to Section 243 of the Constitution that requires the party to seek a leave of court to appeal the judgement or ruling of the National Industrial Court (NIC).
B) Seeking for a stay of execution of the orders of the court, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal application was supported by an affidavit which was deposed to by Samuel Ameh, who is a research assistant in the office of Falana and Falana’s Chambers.
He deposed on the note stated that he had the consent of ASUU to swear on oath. Ameh further stated in the affidavit that he was informed that the said ruling affects the fundamental and other legal rights of ASUU and its members.
It was his further disposition that the court below made the order without jurisdiction as the said referral was incompetent.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has meanwhile, advised ASUU to obey the National Industrial Court ruling and call off its ongoing nationwide strike, while negotiations continue.
He gave the advise while fielding questions from journalists at the Federal Government of Nigeria, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and European Union: HighLevel Side Event on the Margins of the 77th of the United Nations General Assembly and the Official Launch of the Nigeria Integrated National Financing Framework Report (NIFF).
The court had on Wednesday ordered ASUU to call off its ongoing nationwide strike, pending the determination of a suit filed by the Federal Government.
In a bid to end the strike, which has been ongoing for over seven months, the government had taken the union to court.
The government filed an application for an interlocutory injunction, seeking an order of the court restraining ASUU from further continuing with the strike.
Delivering a ruling on the government’s application, Justice Polycarp Hamman restrained ASUU from continuing with the strike and ordered that the case file should be returned to the president of the Industrial Court for reassignment to another judge, as he is a vacation judge.
According to him, the strike is detrimental to public university students who cannot afford to attend private tertiary institutions, and the Trade Dispute Act mandates workers not to embark on strike once an issue has been referred to the industrial court.
Ngige while responding to a question on how soon ASUU will call off the strike with the ruling, said: “I’m not ASUU but the maximum in law is that when there is a court judgment or ruling or order you must first obey and then we can apply for an appeal if you so desire or apply for stay; that is stay of execution.
“So the maximum in law, jurisprudence and everything about the law, is that you obey the court’s ruling, judgment or order, no matter how bad. The qualifying thing is that no matter how bad and no matter how you disagree with it, you first obey.
Like the military people say, obey before complain. “So we expect them to get back to the classrooms but that doesn’t foreclose negotiations, the negotiations should be on as a matter of fact, it will be on officially and non officially. For example, the House of Representatives had invited us to come and brief them.
And together, they are stakeholders. You heard Mr President said to the committee of Pro-Chancellors when they visited him, that he would do consultation as per the two request on putting an icing on the cake on the government offer to ASUU members and the issue of resettlement fund to cushion the effect of the “no work no pay” situation they found themselves in.
“So, President will look at it, the House of Reps are stakeholders, Ministers we are not only stakeholders, we are advisers to Mr. President by the provisions of the Constitution, Section 5 of the Constitution and 147, that appoints ministers one from each state of the Federation, and we hold regular meetings with him, so we are his chief advisers.
“So, we will interface with the House of Representatives and all of us collectively will advise Mr. President.”
NLC Kicks As FG Plans To Proscribe ASUU
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday moved against a reported plan by the federal government to withdraw registration of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over failure to submit its audited financial account for the past five years.
In a letter, the congress’s national president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said that all efforts made by ASUU to submit financial documents as requested by the ministry of labour and employment were rebuffed.
The letter which was addressed to the ministry’s registrar of trade dispute NLC noted that ASUU had on two occasions attempted to deliver the requested financial documents but their efforts to submit the documents were rebuffed by the ministry’s staff who insisted that they were under instructions not to accept any document from ASUU.
The letter reads, “We understand that ASUU has responded to your query to submit its Annual Financial Reports and Audited Accounts within 72 hours.
ASUU responded to the query through their letter dated 9th September 2022. In the letter, the union posited that it had submitted the Annual Financial Returns and Audited Accounts for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017”.
ASUU also averred that the union has now rendered the account for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 as at 9th September 2022. All these submissions were made in Less than 72 hours in compliance with your query as conveyed in your letter of 7th September 2022. Please find attached herewith the letter from ASUU”.
“We understand that due to disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the union was unable to file these reports immediately the financial documents were prepared and available for filing. We also understand that regardless of the C OVID-19 disruptions, the union had paid for the statutory required filing fees.
We also understand that ASUU sent one of their staff and their external auditor to personally deliver the requested financial documents on the 9th of September 2022 but their efforts to submit the documents were rebuffed by your staff who insisted that they were under instructions not to accept any document from ASUU.
ASUU subsequently sent the requested financial documents through courier services but again the staff in your office refused to receive the Annual Financial Returns and the Audited Accounts from ASUU”, the letter added.
In another letter addressed to the minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, Comrade Wabba said the current travail by ASUU appears to resonate with remarks in the public domain that government has perfected plans to proscribe ASUU.
He kicked that if such a plan is true, it would only serve to remind Nigerians of the dark years of military rule where unions where proscribed for standing up in defence of the rights of workers.
Wabba said, “Juxtaposing the unnerving short notice given to ASUU to submit its Annual Financial Reports and Audited Accounts with the unveiled threats by the Registrar of Trade Unions to withdraw ASUU’s Certificate of Registration and the rather callous refusal to accept the same documents upon submission by ASUU all signpost a very sinister agenda which is capable of destroying the current general harmony in industrial relations in Nigeria.
We write to urge the Honourable Minister to direct the Registrar of Trade Unions not to be used to execute an obnoxious plot against Nigerian workers especially our lecturers in the universities.
The Registrar of Trade Unions should accept the Annual Financial Report and Audited Accounts submitted by ASUU.
We posit very strongly that ASUU should not be punished for demanding that government respects the collective bargaining agreements it entered with them”.
