The Federal Government has withdrawn the suit filed against the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress for embarking on strike last week.
The withdrawal, according to the permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, is due to the intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Recall that the two unions had threatened to embark on fresh strike on August 14 after they got wind of the contempt suit filed against them by the federal government for protesting against the fuel subsidy removal and attendant economic hardship facing Nigerians on August 2.
The unions were warned not to go on strike by the federal government, citing an order of the National Industrial Court, NIC. restraining them from doing so.
In a letter addressed to Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and counsel to the unions, the federal government stated that the contempt suit is no longer necessary as events have overtaken it.
In the letter dated August 7, and signed by the Permanent Secretary, Beatrice Jeddy-Agba, the government said it has decided not to proceed following the intervention of President Tinubu and the National Assembly.
The letter reads, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Justice has been drawn to the Communique issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress on 3 August 2023 wherein NLC announced the suspension of its nationwide protests and criticised the contempt summons issued by the National Industrial Court (*Court”), amongst other issues.
“Kindly recall the exchange of correspondence between the Ministry and your Office on the need for compliance with the extant court orders, restraining industrial action of any kind on the part of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.
” The position of the Ministry was informed by the need to safeguard the integrity of the court and prevent avoidable service disruption or damages to public facilities.
“However, despite these exchanges/interventions, the labour unions on 2nd August 2023 proceeded with the industrial action through public protests which 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 Judgement (Enforcement) Rules.
“It is trite that issuance of Form 48 is just the starting point in contempt proceedings which will only crystalize 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 at 4′ August 2023, renders the contempt proceedings inchoate. You may therefore wish to advise or guide the labour unions on the practice and procedure of contempt proceedings, particularly to the effect that the issues or concerns raised by NLC in its communique on the proceedings have been overtaken by events.”
With the current situation, the unions will no longer make good their threatens, reliable sources in NLC informed the magazine on Tuesday.
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