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…Amid threat of nationwide strike by NLC, TUC
By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Federal Ministry of Justice has backed down from pursuing contempt of court proceedings against the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). This decision comes days before the expiration of the ultimatum given by the NLC to government to withdraw the suit or face a nationwide strike.
The Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Jeddy-Agba, revealed this on August 7, 2023, in a letter addressed to Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Counsel to the NLC.
According to her, the Ministry’s decision was compelled by the intervention of President Bola Tinubu following meetings with the leadership of the National Assembly, and the Labour unions where a resolution was reached to call off the industrial action.
Recall that on August 2, same day the Labour unions staged a nationwide protest, the Ministry filed a contempt proceeding against the NLC and TUC claiming that they violated an Ex-parte order from the National Industrial Court (NIC) which prohibited them from engaging in any form of industrial action.
However, in light of recent development, the Ministry opted not to proceed further with the contempt proceedings, which required the issuance of Form 49 within two days of Form 48. Agba noted that “The absence of Form 49 by August 4, 2023, renders the contempt proceedings inchoate.”
The letter reads in full, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Justice has been drawn to the Communiqué issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on August 3, 2023, wherein NLC announced the suspension of its nationwide protests and criticized the contempt summons issued by the National Industrial 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 damage 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 Judgment (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 4th of 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 communiqué on the proceedings have been overtaken by events.”
