Judiciary

Court affirms CONUA, NAMDA as trade unions

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2023

Court affirms CONUA, NAMDA as trade unions

The National Industrial Court on Tuesday affirmed the recognition of the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) as trade unions.

The claimant in the suit, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, dragged the Minister of Labour and Employment; The Registrar, Trade Union; CONUA and NAMDA as first, second, third and fourth defendants, respectively, before the NIC.

Delivering judgement, Justice Benedict Kanyip held that, in line with the International Labour Organisation Act, there can be more than one trade union within employment.

In addition, the judge stated that contrary to the claimant’s submission that Section 3(2) of the Trade Union Act made the first and second defendants incompetent to register CONUA and NAMDA to coexist and carry out the same functions in the universities as ASUU.

Kanyip said that the Section does not encourage the monopoly of trade unions, but rather encourages the existence of other trade unions.

The court said, “The reliefs prayed by the claimant failed, refused and I so hold. I make no order as to cost”.

From the facts, the claimant had instituted the suit via an originating summons filed on June 26, 2022.

The claimant’s counsel, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, submitted two questions for determination.

Part of the question was whether, under Section 4 (2) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended and Section 3 (2) of TUA, the second defendant can register CONUA and NAMDA to carry out the same functions covering the same jurisdiction sphere as the claimant.

The counsel further averred that the second and third defendants registered the third and fourth defendants in a bid to split ASUU.

In reply, the first and second defendants submitted that the court should determine whether the issues raised by the claimant were not speculative and academic.

The third defendant, on its part, raised three issues that bordered on whether the claimant put before the court any proof, whether the claimant’s suit was not liable to be dismissed, and whether the third and fourth defendants were not legally registered.

The fourth defendant submitted for the determination of the court whether there was any violation in the registration of the two unions.

The court, in arriving at its decision, held that the claimant in its submission stated that the first and second defendants approved the registration of CONUA to operate in the universities as a trade union on October 4, 2022.

According to the court, the claimant gave evidence of this assertion from an online publication titled “FG registers two new university unions in a bid to split ASUU”.

Although the fourth defendant objected to the admissibility of the publication in evidence, stating that the publication was hearsay evidence, the court, however, dismissed the objection and allowed its admissibility as Exhibit 1.

The court also held that the fourth defendant was not registered as a trade union until January 11, collected the certificate of registration on January 13 and formally completed all processes to be registered as a trade union on January 17, 2023.

The court, therefore, ruled that as of June 26, 2022, when the claimant filed the suit, the fourth defendant was not in existence.

The court in the judgement equally said that the claimant did not have any evidence when it came to court to file the suit.

Adding that the name under which the claimant sued the fourth defendant was wrongly spelt as “Nigeria Association of Medical Doctors Academics” instead of ”National Association of Medical Doctors Academics”.

The court, however, added that a suit can be allowed if a juristic entity is misnamed.

The judge stated that the first and second defendants argued that because the claimant could not produce evidence that the two unions were registered by them before filing the suit, the action rendered the suit as speculative, academic and should be dismissed.

In defending the suit, the third defendant also submitted that the suit was vague and not precise and described the claimant’s claim as not substantiative.

The court concluded by stating that there was no express conferment of exclusive jurisdictional scope on the claimant, and therefore the claimant cannot claim it.

The court added that the claimant failed to show the encroachment of the jurisdictional scope, which it cannot lay exclusive right to by restricting the rights of others, as the second defendant did not lay bare such exclusive rights in its schedule.

(NAN)

Court affirms CONUA, NAMDA as trade unions

Related Topics:CONUA NAMDA National Industrial Court

Up Next

Court rejects DSS’ request to detain Emefiele for two more weeks

Don't Miss

Court Grants Emefiele N20m Bail After Six Weeks In DSS Custody

Matthew Eloyi

Click to comment

Africa

Customs hands over illicit drugs worth N117.59m to NDLEA

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Customs hands over illicit drugs worth N117.59m to NDLEA

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun Area 1 Command, has handed over illicit drugs worth N117.59 million to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Comptroller of the command, Mr James Ojo, disclosed this during the handing over of the drugs to Mr Olusegun Adeyeye, the Commander of NDLEA, Idiroko Special Area Command, in Abeokuta, Ogun, on Friday.

Ojo said the customs handed over the seized cannabis and tramadol tablets to the Idiroko Special Command for further investigation in line with the standard operating procedures and inter-agency collaboration.

He said the illicit drugs were seized in various strategic locations between January and November 21, 2024, in Ogun State.

He added that the illicit drugs were abandoned at various locations, including the Abeokuta axis, the Agbawo/Igankoto area of Yewa North Local Government Area, and Imeko Afton axis.

Ojo said that the seizure of the cannabis sativa and tramaling tablets, another brand of tramadol, was made possible through credible intelligence and strategic operations of the customs personnel.

“The successful interception of these dangerous substances would not have been possible without the robust collaboration and support from our intelligence units, local informants and sister agencies.

“These landmark operations are testament to the unwavering dedication of the NCS to safeguard the health and well-being of our citizens and uphold the rule of law,” he said.

He said the seizures comprised 403 sacks and 6,504 parcels, weighing 7,217.7 kg and 362 packs of tramaling tablets of 225mg each, with a total Duty Paid Value of N117,587,405,00.

He described the height of illicit drugs smuggling in the recent time as worrisome.

This, he said, underscores the severity of drug trafficking within the borders.

“Between Oct. 13 and Nov. 12 alone, operatives intercepted a total of 1,373 parcels of cannabis sativa, weighing 1,337kg and 362 packs of tramaling tablets of 225mg each,” he said.

Ojo said the seizures had disrupted the supply chain of illicit drugs, thereby mitigating the risks those substances posed to the youth, families and communities.

He lauded the synergy between its command, security agencies and other stakeholders that led to the remarkable achievements.

Ojo also commended the Comptroller General of NCS for creating an enabling environment for the command to achieve the success.

Responding, Adeyeye, applauded the customs for achieving the feat.

Adeyeye pledged to continue to collaborate with the customs to fight against illicit trade and drug trafficking in the state.

Africa

Ann-Kio Briggs Faults Tinubu for Scrapping Niger Delta Ministry

Published

3 days ago

November 22, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Prominent Niger Delta human rights activist and environmentalist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta, describing it as ill-advised and detrimental to the oil-rich region.

Briggs expressed her concerns during an appearance on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

“The Ministry of Niger Delta was created by the late (President Umaru) Yar’Adua. There was a reason for the creation. So, just removing it because the president was advised. I want to believe that he was advised because if he did it by himself, that would be terribly wrong,” she stated.

President Tinubu, in October, dissolved the Ministry of Niger Delta and replaced it with the Ministry of Regional Development, which is tasked with overseeing all regional development commissions, including the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), North-West Development Commission, and North-East Development Commission.

Briggs questioned the rationale behind the restructuring, expressing concerns about its feasibility and implications. “But that’s not going to be the solution because who is going to fund the commissions? Is it the regions because it is called the Regional Development Ministry? Is it the states in the regions? What are the regions because we don’t work with regions right now; we are working with geopolitical zones,” she remarked.

She added, “Are we going back to regionalism? If we are, we have to discuss it. The president can’t decide on his own to restructure Nigeria. If we are restructuring Nigeria, the president alone can’t restructure Nigeria, he has to take my opinion and your opinion into consideration.”

Briggs also decried the longstanding neglect of the Niger Delta despite its significant contributions to Nigeria’s economy since 1958. “The Niger Delta has been developing Nigeria since 1958. We want to use our resources to develop our region; let regions use their resources to develop themselves,” she asserted.

Reflecting on the various bodies established to address the region’s development, Briggs lamented their failure to deliver meaningful progress. She highlighted the Niger Delta Basin Authority, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), and the NDDC as examples of ineffective interventions.

“NDDC was created by Olusegun Obasanjo…There was OMPADEC before NDDC. OMPADEC was an agency. Before OMPADEC, there was the Basin Authority…These authorities were created to help us. Were we helped by those authorities? No, we were not,” she said.

Briggs further described the NDDC as an “ATM for failed politicians, disgruntled politicians, and politicians that have had their electoral wins taken away from them and given to somebody else.”

Her remarks underscore the deep-seated frustrations in the Niger Delta, where residents continue to advocate for greater control over their resources and improved governance.

Crime

Trader bags 9 months jail term for attempted theft

Published

4 weeks ago

October 28, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Trader bags 9 months jail term for attempted theft

A Jos Magistrates’ Court on Monday sentenced a 20-year-old trader, Darwang Chung, to nine months in prison for attempted theft.

Chung, who resides at Gyel in Jos South, pleaded guilty to the one count charge of attempted theft.

The Magistrate, Mr Shawomi Bokkos, summarily tried and sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

Bokkos, in his judgement, gave the convict an option of N30,000 fine, or to risk six months in prison and a compensation of N15,000 or another 3 months in prison in default.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Labaran Ahmed, told the court that the case was reported on Oct. 6, at the”B” Division Police Station by one Yohanna Dalyop, the complainant.

Ahmed said the convict jumped over the fence into the house of the complainant and was caught.

He said that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code Law.