The federal government had in 2022 filed a lawsuit against
ASUU before the National Industrial Court over the failure of the union to call
off protracted its strike last year.
Despite the fact that the NICN ruled in favour of the
government and ordered the striking lecturers back to work, the lecturers,
through their lead counsel, Femi Falana, SAN, had filed an appeal with 14
grounds, before the appellate court.
The government had also filed a suit challenging the failure
of ASUU to submit its audit report to the government.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Labour, Olajide
Oshundun, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH earlier on the issue of the withheld
November 2022 check-off dues, hinted that the case was also before the court.
He said;
“Yes, it is true the audited report was not received from
them and that was because they didn’t respond to the ministry’s initial letter,
asking them to state the reason they refused to submit the audited report for
four years.
The ministry’s letter is explicit on this; they refused to
submit their report as and when due and we asked for explanations. The next
thing they did was to quickly submit the report instead of replying to us in
written form.
And let it be clear that it was when the ministry wrote and
threatened that their certificate of registration might be withdrawn that they
rushed to submit it.
What they were expected to have done was to respond to the
letter first and plead with the ministry for late submission of the documents.
Because if the ministry should take it from them just like that, other trade
unions may follow suit and just do things at their own will. Meanwhile, there is
a law guiding all of these processes.
The ministry didn’t request again the documents but only
wrote to get explanations for their failure to do the needful. I can also tell
you the matter is already in court, so any further inquiry is sub judice.”
Despite the fact that union called off its strike based on
the ruling of the appeal court, the
appellate court will rule on whether the union had the legal grounds for going
on strike and also on the issue of the withheld salaries, which was activated
against the lecturers by the Federal Government on the grounds of
no-work-no-pay rule.
“The court will hear the matter on January 26,” a senior
member of the National Executive Council of ASUU told Sunday PUNCH.
Earlier, a former National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun
Ogunyemi, while addressing newsmen, noted that the possibility of a strike in
2023 should not be ruled out.