By Damola Emmanuel
The legal tussle between Federal Government against the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, took off at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Abuja, on Monday, as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, applied to join the suit as an interested party.
Following the failure of the protracted talks between the two parties, the Federal Government had approached the industrial court, seeking an order to compel ASUU to resume work while talks resumes between them to fashion an enduring solution to the logjam.
The impasse between the lecturers had crippled the university system for almost seven months now, forcing students and their parents to endure the longest uncertainty in their lives. The ongoing strike by the university teachers is the longest in the history of the academia in Nigeria.
Making the request to join the case on Monday, SERAP’s lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegnoruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, told the court that his client had filed a similar suit to compel the Federal Government to honour its 2009 agreement with ASUU. And that their application became expedient because of the need to prevent the duplication of outcomes of the industrial dispute.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Mr. Tijjani Gazali, SAN, opposed SERAP’s application to consolidate the suits maintaining that the step was premature as the case was billed for mention on Monday.
Counsel to ASUU, Mr. Femi Falana, another SAN, however, maintained that he was aware of the efforts by lawyers to file court papers in the suit on Monday.
The judge ruled that the suit was not ripe for consolidation by SERAP. The judge said he was only presiding over the matter as a vacation judge and that the case would be assigned to another judge for adjudication.
The Crest recalls that the Federal Government had approached the court last Thursday, September 8, 2022, seeking an order to compel ASUU to resume work as it continues to engage the union on mutually beneficial way to resolve the lingering impasse.
Mr. Olajide Oshundun, Head, Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, had revealed, in a statement, that indicated that the Minister, Dr. Chris Ngige , a former Senator, had referred the matter to the registrar of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, a critical step towards resolving the dispute.
In his ruling on Monday, the judge ordered the parties in the suit to file and exchange court documents even as he adjourned the matter to Friday, September 16, 2022.
Speaking to judicial correspondents shortly after the sitting, lawyer to ASUU, Mr. Femi Falana, lambasted the Federal Government for heading to the court when, according to him, the lecturers had not stopped working. Falana considered the move by the Federal Government as “blackmail”.
But counsel to the Federal Government, Mr. Tijanni Gazali, said ASUU cannot dictate to his client on what platform its members are to be paid.
Gazali maintained that the agreement reached by the Federal Government and ASUU had been substantially implemented, adding that details of the agreement will form part of the papers they will be filing before the court shortly.
