Justice Polycarp Hamman of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to suspend the ongoing industrial action immediately.
The judge on Wednesday held that the strike was a breach of Section 18(1)(2) of the Trade Disputes Act, which prohibits their action.
Justice Hamman said the use of “shall” in the Act connotes a mandatory provision not to embark on the strike pending the determination of the main suit before the court.
Justice Hamman noted that the strike has caused irreparable damage to the careers of many Nigerian students. The Judge referred the case to the court’s president for reassignment.
REPORTERS AT LARGE reported that ASUU embarked on the strike on February 14, 2022, to demand the re-negotiation of the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, among other things.
Other demands of ASUU are the adoption of UTAS as a replacement for IPPIS as a payment platform, payment of salary arrears for academic staff, payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), revitalisation funds for the universities, release of the White Paper on Visitation Panels that concluded their assignment last year, and non-proliferation of state universities.
Several talks between ASUU and the government did not yield results. Subsequently, the federal government dragged ASUU to court.
