In response to the Nigeria Labour Congress’s plan to go on an indefinite strike over contempt charges brought by President Bola Tinubu-led government against the union, the government on Monday announced that it had reversed course and withdrew its contempt suit brought against leaders of the Labour unions for organising a nationwide anti-subsidy protest on August 2, 2023.
The lawsuit was filed by the Federal Ministry of Justice against the leaders of organised labour for allegedly defying a court order prohibiting them from leading the national demonstration, which was only delayed by five days.
The National Industrial Court had barred organised labour from going on strike, but Femi Falana, a human rights attorney and the union’s attorney, believed the union could still protest.
The organised labour and President Bola Tinubu met on Wednesday night and came to an accord to call an end to the one-day protest. This was accompanied by agreements that the Federal Government would swiftly adopt subsidy relief and approve labour awards.
Despite the agreement, the Ministry of Justice sued organised labour for court contempt. This infuriated labour leaders, who later declared they would start a statewide strike on August 14.
The Federal Ministry of Justice stated on Monday, however, that the government had decided against moving forward with the contempt lawsuit.
In a letter dated August 7, 2023, the ministry informed the Nigeria Labour Congress through their attorney, Femi Falana SAN, that the contempt charges brought against the congress for starting a nationwide protest on last Wednesday were no longer valid.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Beatrice Jeddy-Agba, cleared that the contempt suit against the labour leaders was filed before the interventions of the President and the National Assembly.
“The attention of the Federal Ministry of Justice has been drawn to the Communique issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress on 3 August 2023 wherein NLC announced the suspension of its nationwide protests and criticised the contempt summons issued by the National Industrial Court (*Court”), amongst other issues,” the statement read.
“Kindly recall the exchange of correspondence between the Ministry and your Office on the need for compliance with the extant court orders, restraining industrial action of any kind on the part of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress. The position of the Ministry was informed by the need to safeguard the integrity of the court and prevent avoidable service disruption or damages to public facilities.
“However, despite these exchanges/interventions, the labour unions on 2nd August 2023 proceeded with the industrial action through public protests which led to disruption of work and the eventual pulling down of the gate of the National Assembly. The foregoing prompted the Ministry to initiate contempt proceedings by filing Form 48 on the same 2nd August 2023 in accordance with Section 72 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act and Order 9 Rule 13 of the Judgment (Enforcement) Rules.”
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