The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has on Friday, September 23, 2022 approached the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, asking it to set aside the judgement of the National Industrial Court, NIC, that ordered it to call off its strike action which has be ongoing for over seven months.
In a news article by the Vanguard, the union has lodged a 14-ground of appeal through its team of lawyers led by renowned human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, and equally applied for a stay of execution of the judgement.
In a referral letter, dated September 8, Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment had referred the matter to court as dialogue between the FG and ASUU was not yielding any fruit. The matter first came up for mention before Justice Polycarp Hamman on September 12 but was adjourned to September 16 when the counsel to the FG, James Igwe urged the court to hear the FG’s interlocutory application for an injunction against ASUU.
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On Wednesday, September 21, the NIC, presided by Justice Polycarp Hamman, had ordered the striking varsity lecturers to return to the classroom, pending the determination of a suit the Federal Government filed to query the legality of their strike action.
According to Justice Hamman, the order was both in national interest and for the sake of undergraduates in the country that have been at home since February 14. He also noted that the strike action was detrimental to public university students that cannot afford to attend private tertiary institutions.
“I hold that this application is meritorious and this application is granted”, Justice Hamman was reported to have ruled.
However, following the Court’s injunction the chairman of ASUU, Professor Emannuel Osodeke had told the press that the union was waiting on further guidance and directive from its team of lawyers.