Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) request for permission to appeal the industrial court order will be decided by the court of appeal on Friday, October 7.
The federal government was given an interlocutory order by the industrial court on September 21 ordering the university lecturers to resume their jobs while their dispute with the government was being resolved.
ASUU, through its attorney Mr. Femi Falana SAN, filed an application at the Court of Appeal in Abuja asking for permission to appeal the industrial court judgment after being dissatisfied with the lower court’s decision.
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Falana asserted that because the interlocutory injunction was against his client, they had the right to appeal.
Falana cited numerous authorities to support his claim that in order to assure the legality of an appeal notice, ASUU must first request and receive permission from the court of appeal before filing it.
The senior attorney urged the court’s three-member panel, presided over by Justice Hamma Barka, to reject the government’s opposition to the application and said that denying his client the opportunity to appeal would be a risky course of action.
Earlier, Falana had asked that the application’s stay of the industrial court’s decision from taking effect be withdrawn.
The Federal Government, however, pleaded with the court to dismiss the entire application on the grounds of incompetence and jurisdiction in fierce opposition to ASUU’s request.
The attorney for the Federal Government, Mr. James Igwe SAN, called the court’s attention to the fact that the lecturers had not yet complied with the Industrial Court decision issued on September 21.
Additionally, he disagreed with ASUU’s decision to drop the Industrial Court order’s stay of execution, arguing that the two sides already shared the same concerns.
The senior attorney claimed that ASUU could not approach the Court of Appeal with dirty hands to request a favor or the court’s attention after being found in contempt of court.
He specifically highlighted Court of Appeal Ruling 6 Rule 4, adding that ASUU’s application is in violation of the order and is therefore incompetent and should not be allowed.
Igwe used a similar argument, claiming that the relevant parties weren’t in front of the court because they were listed incorrectly and illegally on the application form against the parties at the industrial court.
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“ASUU is in contempt of court, it is illegal for ASUU to remain on strike in the face of the industrial court order. Section 18(1) of the Trade Dispute Act, does not allow a party in contempt to come before the Court of Appeal with the type of ASUU’s application. ”
Igwe consequently requested that the Court of Appeal reject ASUU’s plea for permission to appeal the Industrial Court order that has not been followed.
After hearing from the two parties’ arguments, Justice Barka Hamma declared that the court’s decision would be given on October 7.
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