On Friday in Abuja, the National Industrial Court rejected the Federal Government’s plea to hear an interlocutory suit requiring Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members to cease their current strike.
James Igwe (SAN), the plaintiff’s attorney, requested the court to consider his client’s current request for an interlocutory injunction at Friday’s proceedings in the lawsuit brought against ASUU by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Labour, and Productivity.
Igwe emphasized the importance of the issues at hand and their extreme urgency, stating that since university teachers went on strike on February 14, 2022, millions of students have been unable to attend class.
He added: “Section 47 of the Trade Dispute Act gives your lordship the power to direct that no worker should continue to embark on strike pending when the applications are heard and determined.”
Femi Falana (SAN), an attorney for ASUU, opposed to Igwe’s request and claimed that because the court had scheduled the case for further discussion, the plaintiff’s application could not be heard.
To further explore options for resolving the conflict, Falana claimed that his client’s leaders would meet with pertinent parties on September 20—including members of the House of Representatives.
He added: “We are going out of our way to ensure that this matter is resolved and we appeal to the claimant (FG) to cooperate with us.”
Justice Polycarp Hamman ruled and agreed. He refused to entertain the FG’s request because a hearing in the case was planned for Friday.
Justice Hamman said: “The matter is for further mention, which means hearing cannot take place.”
The judge further decreed that the claimant’s interlocutory injunction request, which had an affidavit of urgency, would be heard first at the ensuing sitting.
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), the attorney for the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), discussed his client’s pending request for authorization to be added as a party in the case and for the merging of the FG’s lawsuit with one that SERAP had previously filed on the identical topic.
According to Adegboruwa, he submitted two of these petitions on September 12 and 15. In order to move the later application, he decided to withdraw the earlier one.
He requested that the court first hear his client’s motion before moving further with the case; Igwe disagreed, claiming that he had not yet received SERAP’s second application, which was filed on September 15.
However, Justice Hamman dismissed the September 12 application that Adegboruwa sought to withdraw.
The judge then decided to postpone the hearing on the claimant’s request for an interim injunction until September 19.
Later, it was brought up the lawsuit brought by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) against the Federal Ministry of Education and ASUU.
Debo Ikuesan, the attorney representing NANS, asked the court for a specific hearing date for his client’s lawsuit, but Justice Hammman questioned the suit’s legitimacy and the court’s authority to hear it.
The judge directed Ikuesan to produce a response on or by September 20 to address both problems after raising doubts about the claimant’s legal standing.
