Strike: FG threatens ASUU with contempt

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Deborah Tolu-Kolawole, Esther Blankson and Daniel Avantoye

October 8, 2022

The federal government has threatened to sue the striking professors, who are members of the University Academic Staff Union, if they do not resume as the National Labor Court has ruled.< /p>

Labour and Employment Minister Dr Chris Ngige, who made the threat in a monitored interview on Channel TV on Friday, revealed he had ordered labor controllers to monitor compliance at all state higher education institutions. .

He said: “The court says that the ASUU must obey today (Friday). I asked the labor inspectors of the 36 states and zones to contact the universities; first, to see if the vice-chancellors opened the doors because it was one of the imports of the judgment of the industrial tribunal.

"You have to open the doors, you have to open the classrooms and see if these workers, these teachers showed up today, tomorrow Friday and Saturday. My labor controllers will write me a report.

“The Department of Education through the NUC will also do its part and we will compare it. By Tuesday, if they have complied with this, they will first have the right to appeal, as the court says.

“If they return to their class, they will have time to attach evidence and appeal. My labor controllers will also give me things to support education in the country. If they don't, go read that part of the NICN law, they'll be held in contempt,” he said.

In the meantime, the ASUU said it would review the appeals court's decision that ordered its members back to work.

The national president of the union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke reacted on behalf of the union.

Saturday PUNCH reports that the Abuja Court of Appeal on Friday ordered the Universities Academic Staff Union to call off its strike.

The court issued the order after rejecting the union's request to stay the execution of an earlier ruling by the National Labor Court ordering university professors back to work.

The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Hamma Barka allowed the union to appeal the labor court's decision, but decided that it must first resume the work to be allowed to appeal.

He said if ASUU does not reopen universities, the permission it gave the union to appeal against the National Labor Court's interlocutory injunction "will automatically be revoked" .

It granted the union of university teachers seven days to file its appeal against the order of the National Labor Court.

"I am inclined to grant the request to appeal the decision of the National Labor Court of Nigeria. But the order of the lower court must be obeyed immediately,” the court said in its unanimous decision.

But in reaction to the court order, Osodeke said, "We will review the judgment with our attorney and decide on the next step."

The National Labor Court had ordered ASUU on September 21 to call off the strike.

The court granted the motion on notice filed by the federal government, ordering teachers to return to classrooms.

Riding on the interlocutory injunction, Trial Judge Polycarp Hamman barred ASUU from pursuing the industrial action pending a decision on the government's lawsuit against ASUU federal.

Unhappy with the decision, the union went to the Court of Appeal to appeal the decision.

She also filed a stay of execution of the decision of the industrial tribunal.

But the Court of Appeal ordered the striking professors to "immediately" call off the eight-month strike, after overturning the ASUU's request for a stay of the order of the lower court.

He said he was within ASUU's right to appeal the Labor Court's decision.

Agreeing with the federal government's argument that ASUU cannot approach the appeals court with "dirty hands", the panel held that "if the plaintiff did not obey the order (of the lower court), the authorization granted will be automatically released.”