Affiliated Unions Ask IG to Enforce Court Order Stopping TUC Delegates’ Conference
Wale Igbintade
Ten affiliated unions of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have called on the Inspector General of Police(IG) Usman Alkali Baba, to enforce the order of the National Industrial Court, which restrained the TUC from holding its 12th Triennial Delegates’ Conference.
The unions, in a petition dated July 15, 2022, written by their lawyer, Mr. Timothy Adewale, alleged that the TUC have concluded plans to go ahead with the delegates’ conference scheduled for July 19 and 20, 2022, despite the subsisting order of the court.
They also maintained that unless the police intervene, the action of the leadership of the TUC is capable of destabilising public peace, especially given the volatile nature of inter-labour union disputes.
Justice Rabiu Gwandu of the National Industrial Court that sat in Lagos on July 6, 2022, stopped the TUC from holding or taking further steps to hold or conduct elections for the position of president and other national positions pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by the affiliated unions.
The judge granted the interlocutory orders after entertaining the suit filed by 10 senior staff unions over the alleged refusal of the current leadership of the TUC to implement a resolution on succession agreed on at the last Triennial Delegates’ Conference.
But in their petition, the affiliated unions claimed that the TUC had allegedly decided to ignore the order without taking steps to set it aside.
They, therefore, urged the IGP to urgently stop and prevent the holding of the TUC’s conference in line with the court order as they would not fold their hands and allow the conference to hold.
The petitioners also argued that “it is a settled principle of law that every party to a suit, and indeed every citizen, must obey the subsisting court decision or order in a suit unless and until it is set aside.
“So long as the order exists, it must be obeyed to the letter. An order or a judgment of court remains legally binding and valid until set aside by due process of law.
“Your esteemed office like all citizens of this country cannot be a passive onlooker when any person attempts to subvert the administration of justice and should not hesitate to use the powers available to it to preserve the breakdown of law and order in the society.
“Obedience to the rule of law by all citizens but more particularly those who publicly took the oath of office to protect and preserve the constitution is a desideratum to good governance and respect for the rule of law. In a democratic society, this is meant to be a norm. We urge you to act in this regard, Sir.”
The affiliated unions also insisted that the police would be acting in the public interest and also preventing a major national crisis within the labor circle if its Act stopped the delegates’ conference.
The petition was copied to the vice president of Nigeria, the minister of Labour and Employment, the director general the Department of State Services, and the registrar of Trade Unions.
The petitioners were: Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Pulp Paper and Paper Products Printing and Publishing Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PPAPPPAPSSAN), Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNO/WTSSA).
Others were Senior Staff Association of Shipping Clearing and Forwarding Agencies, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATTSSSAN), Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA) and Shop and Distributive Trade Senior Staff Association (SHOPDIS).
They also included Textile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Automobile, Boatyard, Transport, Equipment and Allied Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (AUTOBATE).
