The National Industrial Court (NIC) has fixed December 13 for continuation of hearing on the lingering dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Counsel to the Federal Government, James Igwe, told the
court, yesterday, that ASUU served him with a preliminary objection it filed to
query the jurisdiction of the court to hear the substantive suit marked
NICN/ABJ/270/2022.
He added that in response to the preliminary objection filed
by ASUU, the government also filed its own counter affidavit and written
addresses, seeking to dismiss it.
The federal government had dragged the Union to court over its
eighth month- long strike. Based on a referral that was made to the court by
the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, the vacation judge,
Justice Polycarp Hamman, on September 21, ordered the striking lecturers to
return to the classroom, pending the determination of the suit FG entered
against their union.
The interlocutory order of the Industrial Court was further
reinforced by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which, in a ruling it
delivered on October 7, made it mandatory that ASUU must call off the strike
action before it could be allowed to lodge an appeal to challenge the
restraining order that was issued against it by the NIC.
Though ASUU had since complied with the orders, both
parties, yesterday, returned to the NIC. Counsel to ASUU, Femi Falana, SAN, who joined the proceedings
virtually, said he was ready for the processes to be heard.
On his part, counsel to the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP), Mr. Kehinde Oyewumi, notified the court that
his client filed an application to be joined as an interested party in the
case.
The President, NIC, Justice Benedict Kanyip, who presided
over the proceedings deemed all the processes as properly filed, even as he adjourned the matter to December
13 for ASUU’s preliminary objection to be heard. He further adjourned
proceedings on three other related cases, among which included a suit marked
NICN/ABJ/336/2022, which ASUU filed to challenge the decision of the Minister
of Labour and Employment, Dr. Ngige, to recognise two splinter unions- Congress
of Nigerian University Academics, CONUA, and the National Association of
Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).
ASUU is praying the court to withdraw the certificates of
registration of the two newly registered unions. However, when the matter was
called, it was discovered that the unions were not properly served with the
court processes.
Justice Kanyip faulted ASUU for serving processes meant for
the unions, on the minister, Ngige. ASUU’s counsel, Marshall Abubakar, told the
court that his client did not know the unions existed until he heard the
announcement of their registration from the minister.