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.