The federal government says it will no longer pursue the
contempt suit filed against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade
Union Congress (TUC).
On July 26, NLC issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal
government to reverse all “anti-poor” and “insensitive” policies.
The policies, the union said, include the recent hike in the
price of petrol, and the sudden increase in public school fees, among others.
The labour movements warned that they would go on strike and
mass protests if the government failed to hearken to their demands.
However, the federal government said the unions were
restrained by an order of the national industrial court from embarking on any
industrial action regarding the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The government also said the order prohibited the NLC and
affiliates from holding protests across the country.
Despite the government’s stance, organised labour led its
members to nationwide protests on Wednesday.
Consequently, the federal government initiated contempt
proceeding against the unions for allegedly defying the order restraining them
from embarking on industrial action.
The “notice of consequences of disobedience to order of the
court” also called “form 48” was filed before the national industrial court in
Abuja.
The protest was later suspended on Thursday after leaders of
the unions met with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa, Abuja.
In a letter addressed to Femi Falana, NLC counsel, on
Monday, Beatrice Jedy-Agba, solicitor-general of the federation, said the
protests “led to disruption of work and the eventual pulling down of the gate
of the national assembly”.
“The foregoing
prompted the ministry to initiate contempt proceedings by filing Form 48 on the
same 2nd August 2023 in accordance with section 72 of the Sheriffs and civil
process act and order 9 rule 13 of the judgment (enforcement) rules.
“It is trite that issuance of Form 48 is just the starting
point in contempt proceedings which will only crystalise upon the issuance of
Form 49 and the consequential committal order.
“Upon the intervention of his excellency, President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu and the decision of the labour unions to call off their industrial
action after meetings with the president and leadership of the national assembly,
this ministry did not proceed further with the contempt proceedings, which
would have required the issuance of Form 49 within two days of the issuance of
Form 48.
“It is self-evident that the non-issuance of Form 49 as of
4th August 2023, renders the contempt proceedings inchoate.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com