Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of Nigeria, Lateef Fagbemi, has issued a warning to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), advising them to cancel their scheduled countrywide protests for February 27 and February 28, 2024.
Fagbemi, who stated this in a letter to NLC counsel, Femi Falana, said that the Federal Government has reasonably complied with its memorandum of understanding with organised labour, even though certain areas of the terms of agreement have been inhibited by unforeseen circumstances.
NLC Disagrees TUC On Nationwide Protest Call
According to the AGF, the planned industrial action could amount to contempt given a restraining order from the National Industrial Court.
According to the letter, “Upon the submission of grievances to the court, parties in the suit cannot resort to public protests over the same issues, as such conduct amounts to gross contempt and an affront to the institution of our courts of law.
“Therefore, the proposed nationwide protest action in all ramifications is in clear violation of the pending interim injunctive order granted in SUIT NO: NICN/ABJ/158/2023- FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA & ANOR V. NIGERIAN LABOUR CONGRESS & ANOR on 5th June 2023 restraining both NLC and TUC from embarking on any industrial action or strike of any nature.”
Fagbemi advised Falana to take into account that there is an ongoing case at the National Industrial Court concerning the matter.
The NLC leadership had previously claimed that the Federal Government was not implementing the MOU that included agreements related to workers’ welfare.
However, the TUC withdrew from the NLC’s stance, stating that they were not consulted.
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