NLC Strike: FG makes clarification
The federal ministry of justice has urged labour organisations to discountenance the contempt suit it filed against them for disobeying a court order stopping their initial plan to embark on a strike.
In the letter to the labour lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), Beatrice Jeddy-Agba, permanent secretary, ministry of justice, said that the government merely initiated but it did not complete the filing of the contempt suit.
She said, “It is trite that issuance of Form 48 is just the starting point in contempt proceedings which will only crystalise upon the issuance of Form 49 and the consequential committal order.
“Upon the intervention of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the decision of the labour unions to call-off their industrial action after meetings with the President and leadership of the National Assembly, this Ministry did not proceed further with the contempt proceedings, which would have required the issuance of Form 49 within two days of the issuance of Form 48.
“It is self-evident that the none-issuance of Form 49 as at 4th of August 2023, renders the contempt proceedings inchoate. You may therefore wish to advise or guide the labour unions on the practice and procedure of contempt proceedings, particularly to the effect that the issues or concerns raised by NLC in its communiqué on the proceedings have been overtaken by events.”
