The Trade Union Congress, TUC, has come forward to refute claims of receiving any court order that halts the ongoing nationwide strike. In an interview on Channels TV, TUC President, Festus Osifo, made it unequivocally clear that the union did not receive any such court order.
The strike, which was ignited by the assault on the NLC President Joe Ajaero by the police and Imo State Government officials, was jointly led by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and TUC on Tuesday.
Amidst this, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, allegedly filed an ex-parte application urging the national industrial court to interdict the unions from proceeding with the planned strike. Subsequently, the President of the Court, Justice Benedict Kanyip, invoked Sections 17 and 19 of the National Industrial Court Act to mandate the cessation of the nationwide strike by the unions.
Responding to this development, Mr. Osifo questioned the government’s stance, highlighting its persistent disobedience of court orders while demanding compliance from other institutions.
He asserted, “Yes, we don’t have a service on the court order, but we have a government today who perpetually does not obey court orders. When DSS was holding Emefiele, how many court orders were passed for Emefiele to be released? Countless number of them. We have a state that refuses to obey court orders. You now expect others to obey court orders. But once we see it, we are responsible institutions; we will not say because the Federal Government continuously violates court institutions; we will examine it and if it is the right thing for us to do, yes, we will.”
Conclusively, Mr. Osifo asserted that the organized labour would engage with its legal team upon reception of the alleged court order. This is to scrutinize the order and determine the appropriate course of action in line with their commitment to responsible conduct.
The controversy surrounding the alleged court order has added a new layer of complexity to the ongoing discourse between the organized labour and the government. The public awaits further developments as the situation unfolds.
