Ten affiliated unions of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have urged Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba to enforce the National Industrial Court (NIC) order which restrained the TUC from holding its 12th triennial delegates’ conference.
The unions made the demand in a petition on their behalf by their lawyer, Timothy Adewale.
The petitioners are: the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Pulp Paper and Paper Products Printing and Publishing Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PPAPPPAPSSAN), Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNO/WTSSA).
Others are: Senior Staff Association of Shipping Clearing and Forwarding Agencies, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATTSSSAN), Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA) and Shop and Distributive Trade Senior Staff Association (SHOPDIS).
The rest are: Textile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Automobile, Boatyard, Transport, Equipment and Allied Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (AUTOBATE).
They alleged that the TUC had concluded plans to go ahead with the conference scheduled for July 19 and 20, 2022, despite the subsisting order.
They also maintained in the petition, dated July 15, 2022, that unless the police intervene, the action of the leadership of the TUC could destabilise public peace, especially given the volatile nature of inter-labour union disputes.
Justice Rabiu Gwandu of the National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos, had, on July 6, stopped the TUC from holding or taking further steps to hold and conduct elections for the position of President and other national positions, pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by the affiliated unions.
The judge granted the interlocutory orders after entertaining the suit filed by the 10 senior workers’ unions over the alleged refusal of the current leadership of the TUC to implement a resolution on succession agreed on at the last triennial delegates’ conference.
But in their petition, the affiliated unions claimed that the TUC had allegedly decided to ignore the order without taking steps to set it aside.
They urged the IGP to urgently prevent the holding of the TUC conference in line with the court order.
The petitioners said: “It is a settled principle of law that every party to a suit, and indeed every citizen, must obey the subsisting court decision or order in a suit unless and until it is set aside.