FG drops its lawsuit against Organised Labour for contempt

The Federal Government claims to have dropped its contempt of court case against organised labour for organising a national protest.

This is stated in a letter that was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja and is sent to Falana and Falana’s Chambers, the primary attorney for the NLC.

The letter, dated August 7, was addressed to Falana’s Chambers and was signed by Mrs. B.E. Jeddy-Agba, the Federation’s Solicitor General.

According to NAN, the National Industrial Court (NICN), acting on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Justice, summoned the leaders of organised labour for engaging in the demonstration and charging them with contempt of court.

The Federal Government had been charged with contempt of court, and NAN also recalled that organised labour had vowed to go on a nationwide strike starting on August 14 if the charges weren’t dropped.

The elimination of the subsidy, which had caused great misery for Nigerians, had sparked Organised Labour’s large protests against the government’s anti-poor policies.

Please remember the contact between the ministry and your office regarding the requirement for compliance with the current court orders, which prohibit all forms of industrial action on the part of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress.

“The ministry’s stance was influenced by the need to protect the credibility of the judiciary and stop needless service interruptions or damage to public facilities.

The trade unions continued their industrial action with public pretests on August 2 despite these exchanges and interventions.

The demonstration, according to the report, caused work to be disrupted and eventually resulted in the National Assembly’s gate being pulled down.

According to the document, “the aforementioned caused the ministry to commence contempt proceedings by filing Form 48 on the same day, August 2, 2023, in accordance with Order 9 Rule 13 of the Judgement (Enforcement) Rules and Section 72 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act.

It is cliché to say that the issuance of Form 48 is merely the beginning of the contempt proceedings, which won’t fully materialise until the issuance of Form 49 and the ensuing committal order.

Upon President Bola Tinubu’s intervention and the labour unions’ decision to end their strike after consulting with the President and National Assembly leadership, it was noted.

The release of Form 49 within two days following the release of Form 48 was necessary for the contempt proceedings to continue, but the ministry did not do so.

“It goes without saying that the contempt proceedings are inactive as of August 4 because Form 49 has not been issued.

“You could thus want to counsel or direct the labour unions regarding the method and process of contempt proceedings.

Additionally, it noted that events had “overtaken” the points or concerns the NLC had raised in its statement on the proceedings.