Resume work immediately, Court orders Varsity lecturers

The Court of Appeal has ordered members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end their eight-month-old strike and resume work immediately.

Ruling in an application of ASUU, filed through its counsel, Femi Falana (SAN) on Friday, the three-member panel of Justices of the appellate court, also granted the union conditional leave to appeal the ruling of the National Industrial Court delivered on September 21, 2022, while ordering the University lecturers to end the strike and go back to class.

The presiding Justice, Justice Hamma Barka granted leave on the condition that ASUU obeys the order of the interlocutory injunction by the lower court immediately.

Justice Abraham George will who is part of the panel also ordered that the leave granted can only stand if ASUU obeys the orders of the interlocutory injunction of the National Industrial Court, stating that, in a situation where the orders of the lower court are not obeyed, the court will withdraw the leave granted ASUU to appeal the interlocutory injunction orders by the Industrial Court.

The court thereafter gave ASUU seven days within which to file its appeal and immediately obey the orders of the lower court.

ASUU had approached the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, asking it to set aside the ruling of the National Industrial Court, which ordered it to call off its strike action.

The union, in a 14-ground of appeal equally applied for a stay of execution of the judgement. One of the grounds of appeal said, “The learned Trial Judge erred in law and thereby occasioned a miscarriage of justice when he decided to hear and determine the Respondents’ motion for interlocutory injunction.

The appeal also faulted the judge’s order that the strike was an infringement on the right of students and added also that, “The learned trial Judge erred in law when he held that the rollover strike is an infringement of the right of the Nigerian students and the government who is the owner of the universities.

That the trial judge erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice when he granted the order of interlocutory injunction in favour of the Respondents without exercising his discretion judicially and judiciously and holding that ‘there is no doubt that the balance of convenience tilts in favour of the Claimants/ Applicants’.

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