January 26, (THEWILL) — The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has fixed Tuesday, January 27, to rule on an application seeking to restrain workers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from continuing their ongoing strike.
Justice Emmanuel Subilim adjourned the matter for ruling after hearing submissions from counsel to the parties in a suit filed by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, seeking an order compelling workers of the FCT Administration (FCTA) to resume work.
THEWILL gathered that the workers embarked on the industrial action over unresolved welfare issues, including five months of unpaid salaries, long-standing promotion arrears, and poor working conditions.
The minister instituted the suit against the President and Secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC), arguing that the strike has crippled essential services in the nation’s capital.
During proceedings, counsel to the respondents, Maxwell Okpara, urged the court to join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) as parties to the suit, contending that this would make any order of the court binding on the labour centres.
However, counsel to the minister, James Onoja, SAN, opposed the application, insisting that the suit was properly instituted against two individuals who are not registered under the Trade Union Act. He urged the court to order the striking workers to resume duties.
In his response, Justice Subilim held that since the claimants brought the action against specific respondents, the court could not join additional parties not listed by them.
Court documents showed that the Minister of the FCT and the FCT Administration are the claimants, while Rifkatu Iortyer and Abdullahi Saleh are listed as defendants.
The matter was adjourned until Tuesday for ruling on the application for a restraining order.
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